Childrens book about dog called "Girl"

I read and loved this book as a kid called "Girl" -- read around 15-20 years ago but was definitely written earlier than that.
It was about an (old?) man and his dog, who he named Girl. In my head she's an Irish setter maybe but I could be making that up. The cover was tan and had a drawing of the man and Girl. It was written for children but novel-style, not a picture book.
My mom thinks she remembers that at some point in the book the man went on a TV show?
I know I've already "Named That Book" but I can't find it anywhere online and have no idea who the author is! If anyone knows that would be fantastic :)

I've been looking, looking ....
Thought of Bill Wallace and Helen Griffiths but can't find a match.
Listing Irish setter books I know and can find:
Big Red
Kjelgaard, Irish Red
Outlaw Red
Thoburn: Downy the true story of an Irish setter
Brown: Sean, my pal
Henry: Shamrock Queen (Always Reddy)
Johnson: Red Joker
Beatty: Rufus, Red Rufus
Knight: Luck of the Irish
Carroll: Bounce and the bunnies
Calhoon: O'Boy
Wallace: Red dog
Konow: A very special girl
Crisp: White Star a dog on the Titanic
Miles: Rusty
Hansen: An Irish setter Christmas

i wonder if you might be remembering the book titled "the old man and his dog," which has a mostly tan cover with like a sepia theme/filter. it's by W.G. van de Hulst, a Dutch author, but there's a translated version. here's a link to the book cover just in case you're unable to read through without buying: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/... from what i've googled, it's available on GoodReads, and a few online libraries that correlate to local, physical libraries. judging from the cover, the dog could perhaps be an Irish setter, but more specifically, an Irish red and white setter, which is surprisingly its own breed!

a second book i thought of is similar in name, but different, is a book titled "the and man and the dog," which tells the story of the 1979 Grand National bird dog champion, a dog named Miss One Dot and her trainer, an old man named Josh Gardner (found here: https://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Carroll-Seabrook-Leatherman/dp/0911491066#custome...

i know both of these aren't titled "girl," and i do apologize for that, but i wanted to mention them just in case because they both feature an old man and a dog similar to the Irish setter you're picturing. another thing that came to mind is the book titled "a girl called dog." is it possible you might be thinking of that one, either?

hope some of these helped!