THE BIGGEST AND BEST TERRIER 11 



sick Airedale is just about as common as a 

 dodo. 



" The biggest and best terrier " indeed fits 

 him to a T, but it does not convey any very defi- 

 nite idea as to what he should look like. Even 

 his most enthusiastic admirers never claimed 

 beauty for the Airedale. He is not pretty, un- 

 less we acknowledge that " handsome is that 

 handsome does," and can see the beauty of per- 

 fect symmetry under wiry coat and odd coloring. 



A good Airedale is about as big as a pointer; 

 somewhere in the neighborhood of forty-five 

 pounds, a little more for a dog and a little less 

 for a bitch. His head should be long; the skull 

 flat and broad; the cheeks smooth; the muzzle 

 strong with tight lips over big, white, even teeth. 

 His eyes should be small, dark, and full of fire 

 and his ears little, carried high, and shaped like 

 a V, for nothing can so detract from the correct 

 terrier expression as large, light eyes and houndy 

 ears. His front legs ought to be a pair of gun 

 barrels, straight and strong and about the same 

 thickness all the way down. His shoulders are 

 like those of a race horse, long and sloping; 

 while his pads should be firm and hard, not those 

 loose, sprawly feet sometimes seen. 



The only kind of a back for him to have is 

 short, and his ribs must be well sprung. A long 



