1900 to 1910: “The Idea”

The turn of the century saw the development of wide differences in English Setter breeding that continues today, primarily towards strictly “field” or strictly “show” type Setters. However, there were also a number of breeders that thought both extremes were off track. They wanted a Setter that could turn heads on the street, be a well mannered member of the family, and be worth bragging about and showing off in the field.

Much of this type of breeding was taking place in Northeastern Pennsylvania, particularly in the ruffed grouse rich Wyoming Valley and Pocono areas. A mating took place in Wilkes-Barre, PA in 1907 that produced a dog by the name of Sir Roger DeCoverly. Within a few years Sir Roger was winning both in the field and on the bench, and had developed a huge reputation as a grouse dog. Sir Roger DeCoverly was held to be the finest example of a Dual Setter in existence and the benchmark for “The Perfect Gentleman’s Shooting Dog”.

1910 to 1920: “Foundations”

George Ryman begins breeding to Sir Roger DeCoverly in 1910. By 1916 he acquired the most outstanding son Roger produced, Sir Roger DeCoverly II, who later produced Sir Roger DeCoverly II Jr. George Ryman not only had these outstanding Setters, but had many others from breedings being done to produce this Dual Type English Setter. George spared no expense to get the English Setters that he felt that he needed. There is a receipt for a setter that George paid $500 to obtain in 1915, the equivalent of over $9,000 today. He moved this already large bloodline to Shohola Falls, PA and established The Ryman Gun Dog Kennels in 1916.

1920 to 1930: “World Famous”

The Ryman Kennels became the “World Famous Ryman Gun Dog Kennels” during this decade. George Ryman continued to acquire the very best English Setters available that would mix well with his basic DeCoverly base, from both bench and field lines. This diversity of bloodlines and the large size of the Ryman Kennels allowed George to develop a very rigid selection process for brood stock, as well as a program for evaluating and pairing breeding Setters. George’s program involved evaluating Setters into five basic groups based on multiple criteria. Breedings occurred across the groups with the goal of producing a Setter that exemplified the mid-line of the groups. George knew exactly what he was looking for and never compromised.

1930 to 1940: “Hard Times”

The Depression years were difficult for the Ryman Kennel. George divorced from his first wife and married Ellen Kearnan in 1938. Ellen described butchering a horse every few weeks and grinding the meat to mix with old bread and pasta from New York City for dog food.

George was spending as much as $1000 for English Setters at the same time ($13,000 today). He obtained several setters from both show and field breedings that were considered the best in their breedings. The most successful cross is “Sports Peerless High”, but it comes at great expense and after much failure. The continued rigid adherence to his breeding system and criterion kept George Ryman at the top of his field. The price for champion bred setters was $20 to $40 and George was demanding $100 to $150 for puppies.

1940 to 1950: “Setting the Standard”

George begins to see the fruits of all of his labors. Several outcrosses begin to show results, such as those with Sports Peerless High and Duke of DeCoverly’s. George continues to utilize his rigid breeding system and high criterion, and continues to bring outside Setters into the kennel. Records show payments of thousands of dollars for English Setters that did not live up to his standards and were destroyed. At the same time, the Ryman Kennels has over 170 adult Setters and is a thriving business.

George Ryman is charging as much as $2500 for a trained Ryman Setter in 1948 ($20,000 today). There were many other kennels of shooting dogs in America, but they died out over the years. The death of the owners and basic economics were prime reasons, but another reason was the Ryman Kennels. George had set the standard by which all of the rest were judged.

There were also new shooting dog lines developed such as Old Hemlock by George Bird Evans (and more to come in the future), all of which used setters from the Ryman kennels as a base. Only the Ryman Kennels had the numbers of dogs to make correct breeding choices, the rigid criterion to evaluate effectively, and the breeding system to have a consistent product. Future breeders would use how much Ryman blood they have in their breeding to market their English Setters.

1950 to 1960: “The Founder is Done”

George Ryman suffered a stroke in 1955 and was an invalid until his death in 1961. The last litters planned by George Ryman out of English Setters evaluated by George Ryman were whelped 1955. Their pedigrees give us a snapshot of forty five years of English Setter breeding history.

Ellen had managed the Ryman Kennels for long periods during George’s hunting trips and had always run the puppy house. Now everything was in her hands including taking care of George. She had great help from George’s trainer, Tom Coleman, and a group of kennel friends.

1960 to 1970: “Caretakers”

George Ryman died in 1961. Ellen Ryman married Carl Calkins in 1963. Carl owned Ryman Setters since the late 20’s and gave up a profitable construction business in New York to marry Ellen and continue the Ryman Kennels. His first move was to get back Setters that Ellen had sold to survive through George’s death, and he spent $30,000 dollars in six months to buy them back for the kennel.

Carl and Ellen rightfully described themselves as “caretakers” of George’s work, as neither were knowledgeable at evaluating brood stock or selecting breeding pairs. Under Carl and Ellen the Setters began to get much larger and less athletic, and also began to have increasing dysplasia that they refused to address.

Ken Alexander became involved with the Ryman Kennels in 1967, and by 1970 was under contract to breed for the Kennel exclusively. He was able to obtain premium Ryman Setters and breed them for the Ryman Kennel, with the agreement that none of the puppies were to be sold to the public.

1970 to 1980: “Transitions”

Carl and Ellen built a new kennel on the old property with a new puppy house and a one story home to make it easier for Ellen to manage. By 1975 the Ryman Kennels consisted of about sixty adults plus Ken Alexander’s group of about thirty adults. Ellen’s health became a problem as a hernia and other physical ailments made it difficult for her to care for the Setters. Carl and Ellen decided to sell the Ryman Kennels to insure their retirement.

The Ryman Kennels is sold to Robert Sumner from Lewisburg, West Virginia and his backer Mr. Francis from Beckley, WV. Part of the agreement was that the contract with Ken was to continue as before, with all of his Setters to be sold through the kennels in West Virginia under the Ryman name.

There was an attempt to integrate the two programs into a single Ryman Kennel on new ground in West Virginia, but Bob Sumner refused to follow the breeding program outlined by Ellen and at the last moment Ken decided to separate. Carl and Ellen are told of the decision and they leave to visit the West Virginia kennel. When they return, they inform Alexander that he is now “it”. Ellen suggests that he use the kennel name “DeCoverly” to imply to the public the transition of their support from Sumner to Ken, just as Dr. Beck transferred Sir Roger DeCoverly to young George Ryman. Carl even contributed the only Ryman Setter that he had kept for himself, Ryman’s My DeCoverly (a.k.a. Deke), to the new DeCoverly Kennels.

1980 to 1990: “Holding On”

The Ryman Kennel in West Virginia literally disappeared around 1980. DeCoverly Kennels grew quickly to about sixty select Ryman Setters encompassing all of the elements of George Ryman’s breeding system. In early 1982 Ken left his position as a therapist and put all of his vested retirement into DeCoverly Kennels. There were difficult decisions that needed to be made and a full time focus was required for the line to survive.

The Setters had become too large, and the over-sized setters had poor athletic structure and increasing occurrences of dysplasia. The best way to fix these problems was to return to George Ryman’s breeding system. The return to George’s system disrupted the relationship with Carl and Ellen Calkins. However, without their weekly consultation over the previous twenty years and the breeding records, setter evaluations, and pedigrees that go back beyond the turn of the century, nothing would have been possible. DeCoverly Kennels just had to bite the bullet and make the changes despite their cost and difficulty.

1990 to 2000: “A New Beginning”

Bill Sordoni bought a started setter named Smoky in 1982 and was a friend of DeCoverly Kennels from that date. He had an immediate interest in becoming a bigger part of the kennel, and in 1992 became a full partner. His involvement and infusion of capital allowed DeCoverly to move forward quickly with the return to George Ryman’s breeding practices and kennel operations. The Setters were improving rapidly and the very costly search for acceptable outcrosses became more and more successful.

These outcrosses all began to gel in the early 1990’s. In 1995 DeCoverly Kennels built a state-of-the-art breeding facility on extensive acreage near Lake Winola, PA. The new facility also involved a new professional staff which further allowed the Setters to be shown in a venue that reflects their best qualities.

2000 to 2006: “And Then There Was One”

Succession is a very difficult thing. George Ryman gave his blessing once, to Ellen Ryman. Carl Calkins and Ellen Ryman Calkins gave their blessings and support three times. Bob Sumner was the first. Unfortunately he was a man easily discouraged, who lost faith in the breeding program and then lost the kennel.

Lee Stellerecht was the third. He and his wife Sheila became close with Carl and Ellen late in their lives and had a very valuable relationship through Ellen’s death in 2002. They attempted to help Lee establish Bold Return Kennels but they were very elderly and had not owned English Setters since 1976. Lee was unable to develop a real breeding program from the pieces of other kennels.

The second blessing was to DeCoverly Kennels. Carl and Ellen provided breeding records, pedigrees and expertise to DeCoverly for almost twenty years, and DeCoverly Kennels could not have been successful without them. George and Kay Evans were observers of the Ryman evolution, and in 1990 George wrote in ‘George Bird Evans Introduces’, “the DeCoverly setters, which I consider the true heritage bloodline of the Ryman gun dogs.”.

There are many pieces of the Ryman bloodline in the English Setter world today. However, breeding two Ryman pedigrees does not necessarily make a Ryman Setter. Not that the Setters produced will not be good English Setters, just that they are not necessarily bred to the same standard. The Ryman Setter is based on a standard, not a pedigree.

2006 and Beyond: “As Good As It Gets”

DeCoverly Setters today meet and may even exceed George Ryman’s standards and expectations. He had wild grouse populations available to him that we will never see, but we have better science and have added to his wonderful example. George Ryman’s newly recovered films, covering the 20’s through the 50’s, show us exactly the Setters he developed and how they compare to today’s DeCoverly Setter. In 2007 we will celebrate the 100th birthday of Sir Roger DeCoverly, the Setter that began this Kennel and a century of success.