355 



A ,_.TT£R OF A.REDALES BY HUCKLEBERRY FINN. 

 Photograph by H. II'. XicholU. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

 THE AIREDALE TERRIER. 



BY \V.\LTER S. GLYNX. 



•' The riisiic dames 

 Shall at thy kennel wait, and in their laps 

 Receive thy growing hopes ; with many a kiss 

 Caress, and dignify their little charge 

 With some great title, and resounding name 

 Of high import." 



— SOMERVILLE. 



THERE is perhaps no breed of dog that 

 in 50 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. 



WTiether it is common sense to call a dog 

 weighing 40 lb. to 50 lb. a terrier is a ques- 

 tion 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. 



arid character, a terrier nevertheless, and 

 it is impossible otherwise to classify him. 



People will ask : " How can he be a 

 terrier ? \Miy, 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, per- 

 form 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 strength, 

 sagacity, and speed — a most excellent gun- 

 dog. He is, in fact, a general utiUty dog, 

 for add to the above-mentioned qualities 

 those of probably an incomparable guard 



