Working Airedale Terriers

[foxhound45 167]

Wheatens.........but the Airedale I find works better with other dogs. Although I have experience of working a Redline male and although it may be this particular dog alone and not the Redline as a sub-breed of Airedale, but he was a ticking time bomb around other male dogs.

[lurcher666phil 43]

good informative posts always had an interest in this breed keep us posted on what youre doing and any pups you breed. have you ever seen any lurchers bred with Airedales if so what are they like atb

[foxhound45 167]

Penny Taylor (Skycat) has a fantastic looking Airedale lurcher and the man I acquired 2 of my Airedales from had Airedale lurchers there to show me. They were fell red in colour but too young to be tried on a fox so I will have to continue this post in a years time and write if he was successful.

 

On a different note, I happened to come across a paragraph in D.B. Plummer's book "Rogues and Running Dogs" written about Airedale lurchers. He has only good stuff to say about them, but you know yourself, its all about the line, how they were entered and the dog being entered itself. An experienced handler goes a long way too so a good dog isn't ruined before it comes of age.

 

I plan to put my eldest bitch over a very experienced coursing greyhound, although if she comes into heat and I find a good pure Airedale male I would go for the pure pups first. I feel that since I am working Airedales that originally came from working stock, I have a duty to keep them going so the lines don't just stop while in my hands. Its a personal thing.

 

I can't remember if I put the photos of the dogs up in this post (mind-blank) but the Airedale bitch on the left and the black greyhound are currently penned together so fingers crossed.

 

 

[lurcher666phil 43]

be interesting to know what happens and how they turn out atb

[Tracy Priestnall 83]

don't understand the role of a Airedale on a otter hunt? if you have hounds and earth dogs were do Airedale s fit in ?, also if Airedale s are of hound ancestry why have they turned out a air scent-er.

can you hand on heart say they work thick low lying bramble ,or huge bramble beds as well as the

smaller terriers. do they guard ?

[foxhound45 167]

Hey Tracey, you first have to understand what the Airedale is.

 

An Airedale has the ferocity of a terrier but with the scenting ability of hound. It is fast, can BOTH air scent (any dog can) and ground scent, but air scenting especially over water is much faster and sometimes dogs ground scenting can really hold up a hunt. Don't get me wrong, there are some brilliant hounds and beagles out there but if you watch terriers hunt it is fast and they push through all cover whereas some of the larger hounds will be hesitant in thick branble.

 

As for Airedales in thick bramble.....it is all about the dog. In every breed we see the ability to enter cover is not only dependent on breed, but the dog in question. I have seen cover shy spaniels, but that doesn't mean all spaniels are cover shy.

 

I don't think any dog can compare to how small terriers enter cover. If it wasn't for terriers bombing down setts and earths at a moments notice I don't think we would have need for larger cover dogs such as Airedales. But Airedales for me suit the ground I work, which is bogland, mountain, Sitka spruce plantation and heather moorland. They stand higher than the heather they have to run through, have the recall better than any hound, will range out further than any spaniel which is essential and will track as good as a hound, but the hound is the master of tracking, no doubt about it.

 

I struggle to answer your question on guarding. If I asked that question for any bred bar the obvious German Shepherds, Rotties etc I would have a range of answers thrown at me. That is like saying do Patterdale terriers guard........it depends on the dog.

 

If you look at the German and American Airedales, they are used widely in Schutzhund trials which is a form of self defence using dogs which includes close protection, tracking and chasing/capture. So it is all about the dog. Some Airedales won't let you put a hand near them, and then there are others such as my eldest bitch which is a fantastic hunter but would lick any person to death.

 

I hope this sheds some light on your questions.

[roughshootairedale 0]

Hi foxhound. Are You Breeding Pure Bred Airedales. Would they be suitable for roughshooting. Am interested in getting a pup to train as a gundog.

[Guest Navek]

Hi foxhound. Are You Breeding Pure Bred Airedales. Would they be suitable for roughshooting. Am interested in getting a pup to train as a gundog.

He hasn't got them anymore

[roughshootairedale 0]

Don't really understand the comment

[Lusitano 294]

I think he had to move due to work and placed the dogs with friends...

[lurcher666phil 43]

Penny Taylor (Skycat) has a fantastic looking Airedale lurcher and the man I acquired 2 of my Airedales from had Airedale lurchers there to show me. They were fell red in colour but too young to be tried on a fox so I will have to continue this post in a years time and write if he was successful.

 

On a different note, I happened to come across a paragraph in D.B. Plummer's book "Rogues and Running Dogs" written about Airedale lurchers. He has only good stuff to say about them, but you know yourself, its all about the line, how they were entered and the dog being entered itself. An experienced handler goes a long way too so a good dog isn't ruined before it comes of age.

 

I plan to put my eldest bitch over a very experienced coursing greyhound, although if she comes into heat and I find a good pure Airedale male I would go for the pure pups first. I feel that since I am working Airedales that originally came from working stock, I have a duty to keep them going so the lines don't just stop while in my hands. Its a personal thing.

 

I can't remember if I put the photos of the dogs up in this post (mind-blank) but the Airedale bitch on the left and the black greyhound are currently penned together so fingers crossed.i was wondering did you ever breed any lurchers from the airedsles and if so what are they like

 

 

[old school 515]

I thought I’d bounce this back to the top because I’m interested to find out are they still in existence in north or south Ireland? 

[jiggy 3,209]

17 minutes ago, old school said:

I thought I’d bounce this back to the top because I’m interested to find out are they still in existence in north or south Ireland? 

I've seen a pair at a show a few year back. They looked groomed up and didn't look like workers. Haven't seen or heard of anyone working pure breeds but maybe there's an odd lurcher cross about. Maybe sky cat could fill in the blanks as she worked them. I'm using a first cross wheaten hound at the moment from working lines but they will soon turn to shit too because they are getting popular due to the lack of available true working bulls but unfortunately the ball is rolling on  Facebook for pure working Wheaten's and their lurcher crosses. They will eventually end up the same way.  Unless they have a working background they won't go far and very few are interested in bringing it forward. That's not to say a few don't exist. The lack of working Russell's which not long ago was the breed to go to is a perfect example of a handsome breed getting destroyed by show rings. Again that's not to say that there isn't men that keep and work top class Russell's but unfortunately a newcomer would be very lucky to fall into a position to get one from the men that kept them tight for working ability rather than looks and I honestly don't blame them that if they worked hard to keep them then why pass them out.

[Criss86 69]

Is it true that the airedale terrier was the most popular guard dog in the UK and one of around the world and used by the police and army before the shepherds? I read about there role in ww2 if I remember rightly there was an airedale that played a major part running information on the front line that was shot and battered, broken bones etc but kept going until it got to where it was sent then collapsed on arrival and died. Was this true and would those of been the same type used in the field of another strain of the breed solely for guard/police work? 

[old school 515]

Rock creek Airedale’s (redline) replied back to a post I left on Facebook and there’s quarantine rules in place for rabies that means the pup could be nearly 6 months old before it passes all the tests and would be ready to leave... they didn’t have the facilities to hold pups for that long and recommended buying a grown dog... cost wasn’t mentioned but if it’s anything like the jag terriers that lads import from Serbia I’d say you’ll spend a cool grand!