The Airedale Heritage
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The Airedale Terrier was developed as recently as the 1860's to be the do-it-all hunter for the farmers in the Valley of Aire, Yorkshire, England. These sturdy people needed one dog with hunting instinct and a weather-resistant coat; character to stick to any job; courage and ability to kill all manner of game; the capability and desire to guard his family and home; and the gentleness and sensitivity to live as part of the household.
The early Airedale owner was a working man whose Saturday afternoon sport was a match arranged for the hunting of river rats, a competitive event calling for a dog of exceptional abilities. Poaching was another diversion that contributed to the working ability of the Airedale. The intriguing and illegal pastime of outwitting the gamekeepers on huge estates which were "off limits" to the average citizen called for a clever hunting companion. The Yorkshire countryman was doubly blessed when he found his vermin-killing dog could also efficiently (and surreptitiously find and retrieve birds.
To create this perfect dog, the Yorkshireman combined the nose and swimming ability of the Otterhound with the spirit and grit of the Broken-Coated Terrier. In the manner of the day, other breeds may or may not have been put in the mix, but the end product become known as the Waterside Terrier, then the Bingley Terrier, and finally by 1879, the Airedale Terrier.
The Airedale came to America shortly after its development. How much Americans in the first part of the century appreciated the Airedale's hunting heritage is suggested in 1916 by Warren H. Miller, longtime editor of Field and Stream, in his classic book, The American Hunting Dog.
"On the borderline between the bird dog and the fur dog stands the Airedale," Miller wrote, "the dog that can hunt both ... and the one who can and is being successfully trained to hunt everything alive that can be hunted."
If ever a checkered past was lived down, the Airedale has done so. Developed from obscure antecedents for the purpose of rat fighting and poaching, the Airedale is now widely regarded as "The King of Terriers."
When given the opportunity to take to the field at an early age and to receive the same training given to any gun dog, today's Airedale will live up to its hunting heritage. Some Airedale owners, in fact, claim that with proper training, the King of Terriers could also be called "King of All Sporting Dogs."
