Working Airedale

Its always been my understanding that the introduction of Otterhound blood , was to improve the Airedales perfomance in and around water , Otters being their main quarry .
Their origins lie in the Aire valley and they were formerly known as the Bingly terrier , we can be pedantic and insist that to hold the title of terrier a dog must be able to go to ground , but in reality the affix of terrier has come to mean much more than that nowadays it is as much a description of the dogs temperment as anything else , even the language has embraced the word ...and if someone is described as terrier like , it dosn,t mean they go to ground .
During the first half of the 20th century a more versatile breed would be hard to find , police work , used by many nations during both world wars ,hunting on both sides of the Atlantic and even pastoral , I seem to remember reading about a famouse working strain in the states I think was called Oorang , not sure of the spelling ,
Present day they are probably a shadow of their former selfs , but no one should be suprised if now and then a gud un comes along . ATB

 

Otterhounds were used for That Purpose of Hunting otters, and the finest at what they did.
The airedale is a crafted breed, a novelty.
Jack of all, Master of Nothing. Disappointment in most.

Real Working terriers dont have a Long Hair coat that requires cutting to make it look like a terrier, a real terrier coat is plucked or stripped, a true wire coat, its a lovely thing.
The other is the mindset.
Game, something the airedale is not, as shown and illustrated.

Airedales claim to fame in war was as messengers, or they were trained to go to enemy tanks and conditioned to be fed, they were then starved and had explosives strapped to them ie Suicide bomber dogs. They were that expendable.

Many breeds hadnt yet evolved, so the English tried them at a few tasks, but they never had proven their mettle outside of England and were soon replaced by other more capable breeds.
Far as hunting, they didnt and dont run Airedale packs-Not enough nose, too much trash running, and they run hot. They were added to some packs where grit was lacking, but with right hounds, its not necessary, they are more a liability imo.
Oorang was marketing hype.


Present day they are probably a shadow of their former selfs , but no one should be suprised if now and then a gud un comes along . ATB[/QUOTE]

 

I have been involved with Airedales since 1967, I see them as a versatile hunting and companion breed.

This blog will point anyone interested about the breed in the right direction.

Hunting With Airedales: Hunting With Airedales

Al Kranbuhl