353 
A LITTER OF AIREDALES BY HUCKLEBERRY FINN. 
Photogiaph by H. W. Nicholls, 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
THE AIREDALE TERRIER. 
BY WALTER 
S. GLYNN. 
“The rustic dames 
Shall at thy kennel wait, and in their laps 
Receive thy growing hopes; with many a kiss 
Caress, and dignify thety little charge 
With some great title, and resounding name 
Of high import.” 
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 lb. to 50 lb. a terrier is a ques- 
tion that one often hears discussed. The 
fact remains the dog 7s a terrier—a sort of 
glorified edition of what we understand by 
the word, it is true, but in points, looks, 
/ | \HERE is perhaps no breed of dog that 
—SOMERVILLE. 
and character, a terrier nevertheless, and 
it is impossible otherwise to classify him. 
People will ask: “How can he be a 
terrier 2? 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, 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 utility dog, 
for add to the above-mentioned qualities 
those of probably an incomparable guard 
