What Airedales Were Bred to Do

When you choose a dog breed, you must find out as much as you can about what the breed was originally bred to do. Remember you will get the whole package: the breed's natural drive and abilities as well as its good looks. How often have you heard people complaining that their herding breed dog is yippy and nippy? But you have to expect that because that is how the herding dog gets the herd to move. And how many retrievers do you know that cannot move without having something in their mouths. How about the guarding breeds that are suspicious of strangers or the scent hounds that bay when they pick up a scent, even if it is only a squirrel that went through the backyard yesterday? Terriers are bred to go to ground (read dig) and find rodents and other small animals. If the behavior of a particular breed does not suit you, do not fly in the face of generations of careful breeding by trying to train out the dog's true working nature. To punish a dog for doing what he was bred to do or to try training him to be something else is extremely frustrating for both the dog and you.

Airedale Terriers were bred to be hunting dogs, and they gained rapid popularity as much for their versatility in hunting as for their loyalty to their human family. They can point, flush and retrieve. And like all terriers, they are a "kill breed." That means they will kill rats, mice, wild mink and other forms of vermin if they catch them.

Developed by Yorkshiremen in the late 19th century as an all-round hunting dog for both fur and feather, the Airedale Terrier combines the speed and quickness of the terrier with the nose of the scent hound and the vision of the sight hound. Although no one knows for sure exactly what dogs went into the evolution of the Airedale, it is generally agreed that its originators were looking to breed one dog that could do it all.

In addition to being loyal companions and guardians of their homes, Airedales have been used as farm dogs to herd sheep and cattle, hunters of big game such as bears and lions, gun dogs to flush and retrieve land and water fowl, war dogs to carry messages and help wounded soldiers, police dogs to track criminals and find narcotics, obedience competitors, agility competitors, and more. To paraphrase Gladys Brown Edwards (The Complete Airedale, 1978), there is almost nothing the Airedale cannot be taught if his trainer understands the Airedale and how he learns.