Mornin' TM a big welcome back to our quiz master. You've got me on this one I haven't even a guess. Your Annie is such a gorgeous girl, I haven't seen an Irish Setter around here in decades which I find strange because they are such beautiful animals. I'll be lurking watching for clues.

Annette

I'm thinking, but like Annette, I need clues.

Anne is a beauty!

That which Annette is awaiting, she has provided.

Wearing a mystical expression,
TM

LOL TM, now you've got me dissecting my every word but nothing is giving me that Aha! moment unless.... no, darn, I don't think that's it :(.

Annette

Turn, turn, turn to Ecclesiastes 3:1, my children. There is a hint there.

I have so much to say on this trivia question TM. Although I have been waiting for today just to see what it was, I am always a chatterbox when it comes to dogs. Should I post my other comments? Pretty sure I know the answer anyway....
Ginny

BTW Good clue for the fall season. :)

Ginny

It is a fine fall day here with sunshine and temp around 60. I am on my way outside to "pluck up what is planted" and do some watering as it has been dry here and little rain expected.

Not sure of the clue in Ecclesiastes but I have found some meaning in the connection of Irish Setters and Jennifer. The book I am reading, Unsaid by Neil Abramson, parallels the view of animals and humans in Ecclesiastes.

Hmmmm, a cousin had an Irish Setter named Duffy back in the 50's, Duffy and the female Irish Setter who arrived out of thin air one day and had pups under our house are the only two Irish Setters I've ever encountered.

Could it be this breed was once a popular breed back in say the 50's and then declined in popularity, also the name Jennifer? I don't think that's the connection tho, I know a few Jennifers. Still in the dark I'm afraid :(.

Annette

Gotta post it now....Ok TM You have "peaked" my interest in this one! Being a dog lover and breeder and of course I LOVE Irish Setters, even though they are crazy, firey, red heads, I must add my 2 cents in. Annie is just beautiful and my fellow GWs are correct in their observations of not seeing irish setters much anymore. Their popularity decreased greatly after their initial introduction.I get that reaction about my blue, and b/w shelties. In fact shelties in general. Everyone thinks they are border collies cause they were one of the most recently exploited breeds. Oh well, I just assure them they are registered shelties and that yes, they do come in that color. I bred Border Collies for years before ANYONE knew what they were and everyone asked if they were shelties! I see this happen with many breeds since people seem to think it is cool to have the most "in" breed of dog like it is to have the latest fashions! God some times I wonder what they are thinking!! I digress here.....

When my daughter was born, I wanted to name her Amy because I just loved the name. I had no idea at the time what it meant but she has lived up to her name. I also didn't know that everyone and their dog was naming their girls Amy, in probably 5 different spellings! In fact, they were even naming their dogs Amy! That didn't bother me cause most of the dogs were beautiful. The first dog I met named Amy was a Dalmation as they were the latest fad breed thanks to 101 Dalmations. Seems everyone became Cruella De Ville! It breaks my heart cause these beautiful dogs ended up filling our shelters when they grew up into the somewhat large and energetic dogs that they are! The next breed was Border Collies due to Babe (the pig show). And these incredibly intelligent dogs were exploited to no end!!! And on we go into Mexico and the islands to make designer dogs so everyone can look like Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton.....Nuff said.

I think I have made my answer clear here and have given the others something to chew on.

A thought provoking question and one that promotes education for all pet owners. Ya done good!

Ginny

Glad you went ahead and posted, Ginny. I'll bet you could tell us stories all day, and we'd love to hear them.

I was a dog breeder once, for exactly one litter of English Setters. It was a blast except for the part where a sketchy-looking wannabe buyer would show up. Luckily, all the pups ended up in good homes. We loved our English Setters, but decided to walk on the wild side with Annie. :)

Annette, it looks like you have company in your thinking.

TM ~ The long ranting was what I had originally wrote but thought it a bit much for this fun forum. I can get pretty intense when it comes to chidren, animals and the elderly! I just can't stand by and say nothing when I hear of cases of any kind of abuse, in whatever form it takes; power, neglect, money, the aging or innocent.....not that your question had anything directly to do with that. Just reminded me.....

I am a very careful breeder and only have 1 litter at a time and only occasionally. I breed because I know how difficult it was to find a well bred purebred sheltie when I wanted that breed. And one that was just for a pet. Although I have shown the odd sheltie, I breed mostly for health, temperment and intelligence. Dogs are amazing animals and I wouldn't/couldn't be without at least one. I have 5! I have been very lucky to find amazing homes for all my puppies because I am very careful and a reputable breeder. When all is said and done, like any good hobby, I lose money...... In fact, I'm sure you have heard me mention my last little male pup who went to live at the iris farm with 2 awesome people whom I have never even met! They love him to pieces and send me pics, vids and such all the time. I kinda hand picked that home and no money was exchanged except for the shipping and vet costs.

Yes, I could talk all day about dogs, horses, and animals of any kind but I believe this is only a trivia forum.......

Thank you for posting the pics of Annie. I think you got the calmer of the two setters this time around. I worked for a guy years ago who bred some of the best English Setters in Canada. I like the red and white irish setters myself. Who am I kidding, they are all beautiful! Just thought of the name of my aunts IS back in the late 70's when they were so popular; a big male named Tanner. Come to think of it, my boyfriend's (at that time) niece was born in 1978 and named, you guessed it, Jennifer!

Such fun!

Ginny and the sheltie pack

lol. Well, I am home from work and checked in to see what was up here - my head is spinning!! lol. Ginny, one of my very good friends in high school and his family bred shelties - does the name 'Clipper' ring any bells for you? I of course adored them, and he was pretty cute too! He sorta looked like Peter Tork from the Monkees, and they were very popular at the time, and so of course, was he!! I think I see the thread in the comparison!! btw, my sister and brother-in-law had an Irish Setter - can't remember what her name was, but FIL called her expletive for brains! Where ever she went, it was at high speed!! Glad Annie has other, better qualities!!

Nancy.

Ah yes...The Monkees.....I remember watching them on Sunday nights after Walt Disney. I was a bit young at that time so they didn't appeal as much to me as Rin Tin Tin did. Although Davey Jones sure has aged nicely!!

I also grew up (in this house) with the founder of the Edmonton Shetland Sheepdog club living across the back alley. Her son and I were good friends and all I wanted to do was play with the dogs. I am still very good friends with her and she still lives across the alley and still has shelties. Not familiar with the name Clipper.....yet.

Shelties may just be making a comeback. They are just so smart and such family type dogs. I actually get most of my puppy homes with people who grew up with shelties and will have no other breed. That would be back in the early and mid 70's.

So what's the answer TM? Am I even close? Or maybe Jennifer is just an irish name? But I have no idea if Jennifer is an irish name. I think it is a form of Guinevere or something. For all I know Virginia is too.....

Ginny

Your girl is beautiful, TM. The family dog I grew up with was an Irish setter/Cocker spaniel cross. She was named Brandy for her dark auburn hair. Jennifer is, indeed, a variation of Guinevere. I believe Guinevere was reputed to be fair haired. Early Irish setters could be fawn, or yellow, in color. I believe the answer to the question is fair haired.

To every thing there is a season, and for the name Jennifer and the breed Irish Setter, that time was the 1970s. The Irish Setter AKC registration jumped from about 2500 in 1961 to 61,000 in 1974, their peak year. By about 1987, the numbers had dropped down to around 2500.

The name Jennifer was the top girl's name in this country from 1970 to 1984. In 2010, it wasn't even in the top 100.

So the answer I was going for is that both the breed and the name peaked at the same time.

I thought that was an interesting overlap and an interesting example of how fashions in names, dogs, cars, clothing and you-name-it go through their cycles. There is something about the human makeup that just wants to jump on the bandwagon as it rolls by.

for Ginny, Annette, and probably Bobbie and Nancy.

Lorna, you may very well have found another good connection between the two things. It's a very clever connection, but I just don't really know anything about it. I think you should get stars for it. .

Thanks for playing everyone.

TM

That is an amazing change in numbers in such a short time. :( In my area of central New Mexico Queensland heelers and pit bulls are the predominant breeds. I live in a rural area. People from town come out here and dump animals, primarily puppies. I just took in another one three weeks ago, a Chihuahua terrier pup--tiny little thing. Found her sitting outside of my gate waiting for somebody to let her in. Apparently she had not eaten or had water for 2-3 days.

I have nine dogs, seven of them were abandoned out here. Six of them were young pups, one pup arrived here with his mother. The other two dogs are from shelters. I also have two cats, which are rescues.

Four of my dogs are heeler crosses, two are half pit bull and one is a pit bull. Oddly, the heeler/pit bull cross is a very handsome girl. People mistakenly guess that she is some rare breed. She is the happiest dog I've ever met in my life, since she was five weeks old she has been a TAIL WAGGER.

No stars for me. I was going with the meaning of Jennifer, fair, as in "fair Guinevere", thinking both Jennifer and Irish setters are fair, beautiful.

I had to look up Queensland Heelers - what a handsome breed - lovely faces!! I am always amazed at the incredible indifference many of our 'breed' can show to those less able to defend themselves.
{{gwi:614619}}
Here is my bunch - Nicademus, my 12-year-old Tom, Lily, our foster-child from the local shelter, and Pia, the rescued kitten. She/he is about 9-weeks old. Very feisty - actually, this is the 1st time I've had all three on the bed in relative peace. Pia was banned shortly after this, as she views Nici's tail as a great chew toy!! Nici does not share her enthusiasm!! He will teach her in his gentle way. He is also a rescue, having been dropped off to fend for himself as a kitten. He did quite well for a couple of years, till he discovered my cat door. lol. I wish I had time/room for dogs, but these 3 keep me busy right now!!

Nancy.

Such fun TM! Like I said, when I named my daughter, I had no idea that Amy was such a popular name. I had babysat a little girl by that name and she was an absolute sweetheart. The name just stuck. When my daughter was born she was 9 weeks early and almost didn`t make it. There were 3 Amy`s in the NICU alone! Apparently, there were also 3 Amy`s on popular soaps at that time too! I don`t watch soaps and I had no idea Amy was such a popular name. I don`t have to say any more about the breed thing. It gets me riled! When we bought our acreage about a year before Amy was born, it came with a male 7 month old dalmation! And my sister bought a dal puppy for her grandaughter only to end up at the shelter cause she was too big! ARRRRGGGHHH!

I would like to mention, for interest sake, 2 shows on National Geographic lately, In The Womb and And Man Created Dog. Very interesting if you get a chance to view them. :)

I had read somewhere about the name Jennifer as well as I am so into names. I try to name my puppies something that is related to their heritage or their personality , color, or parents name. Big on themes, big on meanings. :) Oddly, I had no idea what Amy meant till after I named her but I was driving home to our acreage one day when I was early pregnant and heard Pure Prarie League`s "Amy" on the radio, hit at the time, and that was it! Amy it was!

Again, I ramble. Good for you Lorna for adopting your puppies! That is what I mean about why I get riled! People with no regard for life! Like they can dispose of it like last years styles!

Your kitties are great Nancy! Again, good for you for adopting them. Every living creature needs a loving home. I would probably have more if I could afford it and wasn't already over my limit!

Lots of fun TM! Now on to Sunday's trivia....

Ginny and the sheltie pack