CHAPTER XXXIV 

 THE AIREDALE TERRIER 



THERE is perhaps no breed of dog that in so short a time has 

 been improved so much as the Airedale. He is now a very 

 beautiful animal, whereas but a few years back, although 

 maybe there were a few fairly nice specimens, by far the greater 

 number were certainly the reverse of this. 



In place of the shaggy, soft-coated, ugly-coloured brute 

 with large hound ears and big full eyes, we have now a very 

 handsome creature, possessing all the points that go to make 

 a really first-class terrier of taking colour, symmetrical build, 

 full of character and " go," amply justifying in looks, at 

 any rate its existence as a terrier. 



Whether it is common sense to call a dog weighing 40 Ib. 

 to 50 Ib. a terrier is a question that one often hears discussed. 

 The fact remains the dog is a terrier a sort of glorified edition 

 of what we understand by the word, it is true, but in points, 

 looks, and character, a terrier nevertheless, and it is impossible 

 otherwise to classify him. 



People will ask : " How can he be a terrier ? Why he is 

 an outrage on the very word, which can only mean a dog to 

 go to ground ; and to what animal in the country of his birth 

 can an Airedale go to ground ? " Above ground and in water, 

 however, an Airedale can, and does, perform in a very excellent 

 manner everything that any other terrier can do. As a water 

 dog he is, of course, in his element ; for work on land requiring 

 a hard, strong, fast and resolute terrier he is, needless to say, 

 of great value ; and he is said to be also, when trained as can 

 easily be imagined when one considers his power of scent, his 



219 



