Airedale Terrier

The Airedale Terrier is the largest of the British terriers, which is why it is often called the King of Terriers. It comes from the valley of the River Aire in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, where it was bred as a versatile hunting dog and general farm worker. It has since served as a war dog, guide dog and police dog.

History

Working people in Airedale created the breed in the middle of the 19th century by crossing the old rough-coated Black and Tan Terrier with the Otterhound, along with a mix of other breeds. The dogs were first shown in 1864 at a show run by the Airedale Agricultural Society, where they appeared under names such as Rough Coated, Bingley and Waterside Terrier. Fanciers settled on the name Airedale Terrier in 1879, and the Kennel Club accepted it in 1886.

The first Airedales reached North America in the 1880s; one named Bruce arrived in 1881 and won the terrier class at a New York show. A dog called Master Briar, born in 1897, is regarded as the patriarch of the breed. In the early 1900s a kennel in Ohio bred a much larger strain known as the Oorang Airedale.

Airedales patrolled Hull Docks as police dogs from 1908, and in the First World War they carried messages and helped the Red Cross find wounded soldiers. Before the German Shepherd took over, the Airedale was a common choice for police and search work.

Appearance

Males stand 58 to 61 cm at the withers and females a little less, with a weight of 19 to 25 kg in fit condition. The oversized Oorang type found in North America can be far heavier.

The coat is what terrier people call broken: a hard, stiff, wiry outer layer lying straight and close over a softer undercoat. The head, ears and legs are tan, with a black or dark grizzle saddle over the back. The tail is set high and carried up without curling over the back. It was traditionally docked, which is now illegal in much of Europe and in Australia.

Temperament

Like most terriers, the Airedale was bred to hunt on its own initiative, and it is intelligent, independent, strong-minded and sometimes stubborn. It is loyal to its people, alert and energetic, and described as fearless without being aggressive. It tends to chase animals and will go after small ones by instinct, though a trained Airedale can work around cattle and other livestock.

Care and health

The coat sheds very little and needs clipping or hand stripping every six to eight weeks. It is often called hypoallergenic, but studies have found no real difference in allergen levels between Airedales and other dogs.

A UK study put life expectancy at 12 years. In British and North American health surveys, cancer was the most common cause of death, followed by urologic problems, old age and heart disease. One North American study found hip dysplasia in a little over 6 percent of Airedales, and the larger Oorang type is said to be more prone to it.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.