The Airedale Terrier - A Complete Anthology of the Dog -

By Read Books Ltd.

The Airedale Terrier - A Complete Anthology of the Dog gathers together all the best early writing on the breed from our library of scarce, out-of-print antiquarian books and documents and reprints it in a quality, modern edition. This anthology includes chapters taken from a comprehensive range of books, many of them now rare and much sought-after works, all of them written by renowned breed experts of their day. These books are treasure troves of information about the breed - The physical points, temperaments, and special abilities are given; celebrated dogs are discussed and pictured; and the history of the breed and pedigrees of famous champions are also provided. The contents were well illustrated with numerous photographs of leading and famous dogs of that era and these are all reproduced to the highest quality. Books used include: My Dog And I by H. W. Huntington (1897), Dogs Of The World by Arthur Craven (1931), Hutchinson's Dog Encyclopaedia by Walter Hutchinson (1935) and many others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Oct 25, 2011
• ISBN: 9781447491804

Book preview

THE AIREDALE TERRIER.

Most visitors to North of England shows must have been struck by the appearance of the large rough-coated dogs which it is now the fashion to style Airedale terriers. The animal itself is simply the old Yorkshire waterside terrier, a little improved in looks by careful breeding, rechristened, and brought before the public as the coming breed. Many ideas are prevalent as regards the origin of the variety, but as it has for years and years been in the hands of a class of men whose pockets are not deep, and whose ideas of breeding up to a standard are somewhat vague, the Airedale ancestry is decidedly mixed, and all hopes of disentangling the ramifications of its family tree are positively futile. In fact, a north-country authority on the breed writes as follows:

They (the Airedales) are the produce of sires and dams put together without any idea of breeding to a standard of excellence, but simply to produce a dog useful for the semi-rural sports suited to the tastes and pockets of the somewhat impecunious class to which their admirers mostly belong. It is almost impossible to trace the origin of the breed to any particular source. Some districts claim to have a breed with forty years’ pedigree, but in several attempts that have been made to trace one of these strains it has invariably happened that, beyond a generation or two, all trace of individual dogs gets merged into So-and-so’s breed, which were descended from a bitch from So-and-so, which was put to a dog from such a place, and so on.

In my opinion, both the otter hound and Irish terrier are largely responsible for the existence of the so-called Airedale terrier, and no doubt the aid of some or other of the various breeds of terrier was enlisted from time to time. Many authorities aver that bull blood was used; others maintain that it was Scotch or Dandie blood that was resorted to; whilst others still declare that the animal is made up of an olla podrida of Scotch, Dandie, Bedlington, and bull terrier, mixed up with otterhound.

So far, I am aware that my endeavours to supply information about the origin of the Airedale have not been attended with success, but upon the merits of the breed I can speak with more authority, having had the benefit of the experience of a gentleman who took it up some short time back from the glowing accounts he had heard of its gameness and bottom. The result was most mortifying. He could make nothing of the dogs, and was heartily glad to get rid of them. From what he tells me concerning Airedales, I have no doubt that they potter about the banks of a river, and take water well, and that they will kill rats, which, as they scale from 401b. to 501b., is not much in their favour. I will even go further, and admit that specimens may be produced which will tackle a badger under protest; but not another step will I go in favour of the Airedales as a game, hard-bitten race.

In support of my views, I shall quote from a letter just received from a gentleman who has owned Airedales, and whose opinions are identical with what I have stated above. He writes:

Airedale terriers are a failure. The result of my experiences of them is that I find them to have good noses, they will beat a hedgerow, will find and kill rats and rabbits, and work well with ferrets. They are good water dogs and companions, possessing a fair amount of intelligence. This is the sum total of their excellence. They came to me with a great reputation for gameness, but out of fourteen that I have personally tried at badger and fighting with a bull terrier of 241b., I have never found one game—at least to my idea of the word.

MR. L. P. C. ASTLEY’S AIREDALE TERRIER BITCH FRACTURE.

This is strong speaking, but this gentleman’s experiences corroborate every word of what has gone before, and the woeful exhibition made by some Airedales when tried at a badger at Wolverhampton last January was literally the laugh of the show.

Summing up the merits and demerits of the breed, it must be said of the Airedale that his want of heart, his size, the diversity of types, and tendency to throw back in breeding, are great drawbacks, which his fondness for water scarcely out-balances. Therefore, when we find, as I believe we can, that a wire-haired Scotch, Dandie Dinmont, Skye, Irish, or small bull terrier possesses all the gameness of the Airedale (in addition to which they take up one quarter of the room, and can go to earth), the question only remains, Why keep an Airedale?

The accompanying woodcut is an illustration of the Airedale terrier bitch Fracture, the property of Mr. L. P. C. Astley, of Wolverhamption. She was bred by Mr. Wade, and is by Crack out of Poll. Fracture is an extremely well-made Airedale, her head and body and feet being very good, but her coat is rather too soft in texture. Still, she was no doubt the best at the Wolverhampton Show last January, where she won cleverly in a rather strong class.

POINTS OF THE AIREDALE.

Head (value 20).—Skull flat and fairly wide, the muzzle long and punishing, teeth level, and lips tight.

Eyes (value 5).—Small and dark.

Ears (value 5).—Vine-leaf shaped, rather large in size, though fine in texture, and button, like a fox terrier’s.

Shoulders (value 5).—Should slope well on to the chest.

Body (value 10).—Chest deep, back rather long, with the body well-ribbed up, and very powerful loins.

Forelegs (value 10).—Straight and muscular, set on well under the body. The feet compact and moderately round.

Size (value 5).—From 351b. to 501b.

THE AIREDALE TERRIER.

Coat (value 20).—Rather profuse, but very hard and weather-resisting.

Colour (value 5).—A blueish saddle on the back, and tan on the rest of the body is the recognised colour.

General appearance (value fifteen).—A smart, terrier-like, rather leggy dog, which combines strength and activity with a very game look. The tail is always docked, and should be about 7in. in length.

THE AIREDALE TERRIER.

VERY many of our readers who are acquainted with the old Yorkshire Waterside Terrier will possibly fail to recognise him under his new denomination—the Airedale Terrier. The change has been brought about since the institution of classes for the breeds at north country shows, as so much confusion was found to be caused amongst the exhibitors if the breed was not distinguished by some definite title. The existence of a dog resembling the Airedale Terrier has ever been a subject for astonishment to individuals in the southern part of the country, and a by no means insignificant mare’s nest was discovered when the breed was brought for the first time beneath the notice of some of the least cautious of them, who strutted, and crowed a welcome to what they imagined to be a new breed of dog, discovered by themselves. An excuse may, however, be made for these much-ridiculed persons, as really in its own neighbourhood the breed has only of late years come to be considered worthy of practical and intelligent support. It existed certainly, and had existed for years and years, but the ownership of the majority of specimens rested in the hands of those who had little time, money, or inclination, to devote themselves to the science of breeding. Still, the breed grew and prospered, mainly owing to the exertions of a few unprejudiced practical persons, whose mode of progress will be alluded to hereafter. Before, however, going into the points and descriptions which have been so kindly afforded us by Mr. Reginald Knight of Chappel Allerton near Leeds, we may say that it has been our desire to lay the opinions, not only of Mr. Knight, but also of other successful breeders and exhibitors, before our readers. With this object, we requested Mr. Knight to oblige us by communicating with certain gentlemen, which he most kindly consented to do, and in addition provided us with the following notes, including his own experiences of the pluck and utility of the breed, which we gladly reproduce in extenso.

"This breed was originally bred from a cross between one of the old rough-coated Scotch Terriers and Bull-terrier. What I mean by the old Scotch Terrier is a dog weighing from 12 lbs. to 22 lbs., with a bluish-grey back and tanned legs, with a very hard and coarse coat. This cross, of course, did not produce a large dog, neither had the animal a very keen nose, so it was then crossed with Otter-hound, thus producing a large, ungainly animal, with big ‘falling’ ears, and very soft coat. This was then crossed and re-crossed, first with the original cross, and then with Bull-terrier, to produce a good terrier ear and good feet. This again was crossed with Otter-hound, the offspring not showing so much hound, neither having such a soft coat, but possessing a good nose for hunting, and a fondness for water as well as great gameness, both from the Bull blood as well as from the hound. Then this was crossed with Bull again, and then the offspring crossed and re-crossed with the terrier till it was brought up to the present standard. I ought to say that if you go to a show now you will find that fully two-thirds of the dogs in the Airedale Terrier class are dogs of ungainly appearance, with big hound ears and narrow long heads, also flat-sided and very badly built behind, as well as with a great weakness about the pasterns, causing the joint to give, and thus pressing the foot out sideways. Also take half a dozen men who say they have a good Airedale over 50 lbs. weight, and make them show their dogs, and you will find that five of them are fully three-quarters Otter-hound.

"This breed was originally started from twenty to forty years ago by working men about Leeds, Shipley, Otley, Bingley, although many gentlemen had them, and in all the towns, and villages in the valley of the Aire, hence the name ‘Airedale.’ They were used by them for water-side hunting after rats, water-hens, ducks, and in fact, anything that might turn up. They are also used for poaching hares and rabbits, the gates in the field being quietly netted, and the dog then sent in to ‘seek up.’ He would hunt the entire field over without ever a whimper, if properly trained to it. If broken to the gun they are one of the best sporting dogs out, as they will hunt, retrieve, and set and