THI AXtJLER AND HUNTSMAN 203 



Garden, New York, in February, 1908, were satisfied that 

 the most satisfactory performance given was by an Aire- 

 dale, although there were several of another breed (Belgian 

 sheep dogs) that had been trained abroad. The muzzled 

 Airedale rushing in between the supposed felon's legs, soon 

 had him on the ground and at the mercy of the representa- 

 tive of law and order. 



With all the go-aheadness and sprightliness of the Aire- 

 dale, it cannot be said he is quarrelsome. The hound blood 

 that is within him appears to have wiped out, for the nonce, 

 the sheer wickednss of the bull and terrier. We know that 

 a hound will rather run than fight, any day. Alone he is a 

 bit of a cow^ard ; in a pack he becomes brave as a villain in a 

 mob. It is the other way with a bull and terrier. And so 

 it was with the old cut-eared Scotch dog, another such with 

 the arguments of his teeth. But the Airedale is, broadly 

 speaking, all right, until he is set on to his own kind or any- 

 thing else that breathes. With the rising of his hackles 

 something's going to suffer, even if he dies in the battle. 

 And that must be the reason for the universal popularity of 

 the dog now under notice. 



There has been a steady upward value in Airedales 

 ever since 1890. A fancy price to put on a dog, a champion, 

 at a show in England, at that time would have been a hun- 

 dred pounds sterling (about $500). He could probably 

 have been obtained at half that figure, or less. A good or- 

 dinary dog would have cost about $50, and this dog could 

 have won with the leading champions of the day out of his 

 way. Now, matters have changed, and $1,000 has been paid 

 for dogs now in America. 



The Airedale is essentially a general purpose, and can 

 be taught to do anything a dog can learn. As a hunter he 

 has no superior, and his wonderful popularity in the West 

 is due to his aid to the huntsman of big game, being possessed 

 of a marvelous nose, a powerful physique, and the agility of 

 a cat, which, coupled with the grit equal to a pit Bull dog, 



