Preface. 



IT is barely forty years ago since this, the largest breed 

 of the Terrier family, was evolved, by the efforts of a few 

 enthusiasts in Yorkshire, from a Witcbes' Cauldron 

 mixture of Otterhound, the Welsh Harrier, and, in all 

 probability, the Bull-terrier, the chief object being to 

 breed a dog that could live in the water and tackle any- 

 thing from a rat to an otter with unflinching gameness 

 It is possible that the Sheepdog played some part in the 

 manufacture. Breeders of recent year's have ofttimes 

 wished that the founders of the breed had been rather less 

 catholic in their materials. All credit must be given to 

 them for producing in so short a time a dog good to look 

 at, and at the same time a good workman. Present-day 

 admirers are lucky in their generation, nearly all litters 

 now being fairly uniform in type and general all-round 

 excellence. It was not so many years ago, one could, had 

 he so minded, have benched specimens from any one litter 

 in Airedale classes, Old English Terriers (alas ! now de- 

 funct), Otterhounds, and Welsh Terriers, with a fair 

 prospect of winning honours. Even now tragic reminders 

 of the bar sinister will appear in the shape of dun-colourei 

 pups in the most classic litters. The stumbling-block in 

 the path of this fascinating breed has been for years the 

 coat, but now, after long years of weary endeavour, a real 

 natural wire jacket, straight in lay, is the reward of 

 those breeders who have scientifically bred sheep coats 

 out of their favourites. Fanciers who have never deviated 

 from the cult of sound coats or nothing can now look 

 upon the present agitation against trimming with perfect 

 and happy indifference. An Airedale, bred on correct 

 modern lines, needs no tonsorial aid, and is, without 

 doubt, the happier for it. And after all that is the first 



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