202 THE AXGLER AND HUNTSMAN 



good water dogs, and their constitution was such that they 

 could withstand all weathers and the wear and tear of work 

 in a foreign element that is particularly trying to humans and 

 nearly all quadrupeds. Out, then, of the rough terrier, bull 

 terrier and hound cross there arose the dog that we know T 

 today as the Airedale terrier ; and a better creature does not 

 stand on four legs, when we consider him from the points of 

 elegance, unison of build, thoroughness in dash and inten- 

 sity of purpose; in the contour of his breedy appearance, 

 and his known adaptability to all climates and under any 

 and all conditions where he is called upon to act as a real 

 companion to man. This is, assuredly, a great character, 

 but no phrase or set of phrases can be found that adequately 

 describes this great strain of the canine family. The Aire- 

 dale is in a class all to himself and deservedly so. Today the 

 Airedale enjoys wide popularity. He is everywhere. I 

 have seen him at the hardest of the most devilish work, midst 

 the extremely severe winters of ice-clad Canada and the swel- 

 tering forests and bush looking out onto the Indian Ocean 

 and the blue waters of the South Pacific. For the large 

 carnivore, he is in considerable use in this country, espe- 

 cially in the regions of the Great Divide the backbone of 

 the continent, the mighty and always alluring Rockies. As 

 a tracker of wounded deer he is at your service, while it 

 doesn't take you long to make him an ideal coon dog. Rats 

 in his mouth are as strawberries in yours, while as a duck 

 dog he will retrieve with the best of them. He is, indeed, 

 something more than the poor Sunday-hunting workingman, 

 operative or mill hand, watersider or " manufacturer" 

 dreamed he was. For the local Aire dog has become a 

 world- wide celebrity, used by the human being of ability for 

 almost everything ; hunting large and small game ; as a 

 trained policeman's dog; the pick of all dogs for army am- 

 bulance service. The Airedale is truly a jack of all the 

 dog trades. The many thousands that watched the public 

 work of the New York City police dogs at Madison Square 



