THE BIGGEST AND BEST TERRIER 13 



When running he sweeps along with the free open 

 stride of a galloping thoroughbred, with his head 

 often carried low, but his tail always high. 



Very often the man wanting a dog for hunting, 

 for a guard, for a pal turns up his nose at all the 

 finely enumerated details in which the standard 

 describes the fanciers' ideal of Airedale perfec- 

 tion. He is wrong, for, as the advertisements 

 say, " There's a reason." Take the double coat 

 for example. The Airedale was originally bred 

 to be a water dog. The wiry coat sheds water 

 like a duck's back, and the undercoat keeps him 

 warm in all weather. With the kind of a jacket 

 for which the standard calls an Airedale can swim 

 the river, scramble out, shake himself, roll over, 

 and be dry. Moreover, such a coat is a perfect 

 armor against all kinds of thorns, claws, and 

 teeth. The long, clean head with its strong muz- 

 zle means a jaw with plenty of room for big, 

 strong teeth and muscles to shut those teeth as 

 quickly; and as surely as a spring trap. 



Of course, not one Airedale in a thousand 

 comes within seventy-five per cent, of being all 

 that the standard describes. The average, how- 

 ever, is high in America; much higher here than 

 anywhere else in the world, except England, and 

 our best can even hold their own with the cham- 

 pions from the land of the breed's creation. 



