Introduction To Rough Game??

What Age Would You Let Him Tangle With A Coon? « Thread Started Today at 9:38am »

This piece was written by John Henry who runs the "Coyote Gods" forum. John Henry is one of those guys like Henry Johnson that has a way with the written word to get a message across. For those who do not know the Coyote Gods is a forum that specializes in varmint hunting and especially Coyotes. There are several hunters over on that board that use Airedales as their dog of choice in various ways of taking Coyotes. http://www.coyotegods.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0 I got permission from JH to post this over here because I thought it really hits the nail on the head on this particular subject. I strongly agree with this article and think anyone who thinking about getting an Airedale to hunt or is actively in the process of training an Airedale for hunting should read this and let it soak in. Enjoy, Al =========================================== The question of what age would a person let his Airedale pup tangle with a Coon? The Reply by JH ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, I dunno: I don't think that you can put a hard number on it, because dogs are individuals, and some are more precocious than others. Micky was a notoriously slow bloomer, and she wouldn't pay attention to anything except doves for the first year of her life. Athena, on the other hand, was hanging three feet off of the ground from dead cottontails when she was four months old, trying to tear loose a chunk, so it's hard to make any definitive statement without knowing the individual dog. Probably the best thing to do is to start them with an older made dog; pups learn by imitation in the first place, and if you put an older dog on the ground and it starts to smell around and line out a drag trap the pup will just naturally do the same thing, and when they find that coyote and the adult dog starts to bay-bark it the pup will imitate that too (if it's ready) and if it does get too close and that coyote latches onto it the other dog can always dive in there and get the pup loose. About the only thing that you don't want to do is let a pup get roughed up badly when it's too young; the old ADC trappers used to say that kind of treatment could make a dog "hate" coyotes, and hunt them hard as a result, but I think that it can also turn them off on whatever knocks hell out of them, at least for a while. The thing to keep in mind is that an Airedale Terrier is imbued with natural prey drive and aggression on game, and you don't have to work terribly hard to "develop" that because it's already there, even if it's latent in a young dog. What makes the Airedale special (to me, anyhow) is that, unlike many of the other terrier breeds, a properly bred and balanced Airedale doesn't exhibit BLIND aggression on game; if they're correctly exposed to furred game they'll learn to respect the fact that the animals that they're confronting on a bay can deal it out as well as take it, and they become selectively aggressive; they'll pull hair and bite hard, but they'll guard themselves in the process instead of going right into the jaws and ending up dead. The fundamental maxim in boxing is "Protect yourself at all times," and that's what I want to see in my dogs when they're on game, particularly big game like bear, lion, or hogs (among other things) that can kill or cripple them if they don't care for themselves. I've said this many times before, but it bears repeating; the advent of the firearm resulted in a change in philosophy concerning hunting dogs, and the Scottish Deerhounds and Irish Wolfhounds and Old English Mastiffs gave way to smaller lighter faster dogs that could hold bay until the hunter came up with the firearm to do the actual killing, because it was no longer necessary for the dog to have the jaw strength and raw power to kill in it's own right. Some trappers, particularly bobcat trappers, would just as soon that their trail-up dog never touches fur with it's mouth, because they don't have to worry about repairing any damage that a dog might inflict, and even though it's difficult to find an Airedale that is content to face-bark an animal without succumbing to the temptation to lunge in there and try to bite you don't really have to worry that your dog won't be aggressive enough; Airedales are some of the roughest dogs on game that the world has ever seen, and they'll hold plenty of pressure on anything that you're hunting once they understand their jobs and what you expect from them. As a general rule of thumb a working/hunting dog spends the first three years of it's life (at least) learning the ropes, then the next five years or so at the peak of it's performance, and then several more years (at least) in a slow physical decline, and then the last few years collecting the treats and the naps in the sun and the favored position by the stove that it's earned for itself. So there's no tearing hurry in my mind; it seems the modern fashion to advertise dogs that are treeing at 4 months and winning field trials at one year of age, but most Airedales are slow to bloom in the first place, and it's hard to tell when that switch may trip in their pointed heads and turn on the lights for them. Just give them plenty of opportunity, and they'll tell you when they're ready. John-Henry ============================================ Photo of John Henry with his pack of big game dogs, assorted Hounds and Redline Airedales.

Airedales As Treedogs

Below is a picture from Palmer's "All About Airedales". It shows two Airedales that have treed a Mt Lion in a pine tree. Now these two Airedales tracked that cat and pushed it hard enough to put it up that pine and barked tree long and hard enough for the hunters to get there and take this photo. You can not ask for any more than that and they have to be considered tree dogs in this particular hunt in every sense of the word.




But I have a point of contention to make here and have been bantering about this treeing ability thing with my big game hunting friends for many years on not only Airedales but hounds too. While they seem to have reasonable success getting their dogs on the tree I have found that it is much more difficult to get a good tree dog on smaller game. I see a direct correlation between game size and treeing.

I have owned a lot of Airedales and I can say with some certainty that almost every single one would tree bark on this Lion as pictured. The cat is in plain view and with all the scent from such a large animal drifting down and about and probably some spitting and growling going on I think a gamey dog is going to tree and tree hard. When dogs can see and hear the game in the tree the treeing is almost 100%.

Now if that Lion had treed in a thick 75 foot white pine up in the top somewhere out of sight I would say the percentage of Airedales I have owned that would locate and tree would probably drop to less than half and maybe even less.

If it was a big bear up in the tree I believe the percentage of dogs that tree would increase because there is a lot more scent. I have smelled Bears and they stink, they must reek to a dog. I think that in itself makes them the easiest big game to locate and tree on.

Exchange the bear for a 15 pound coon and you will be doing good if you have one Airedale in ten that can locate and tree with accuracy and stay.

Make it a squirrel and forget it, out of all the Airedales I have owned only one would have been considered a top squirrel dog. I am talking about a top squirrel hunting dog not a dog that sight chases a squirrel off a bird feeder and trees it by sight only.

The point of all this rhetoric is that I have been asked many many times about the treeing ability of Airedales. I have always considered it their biggest weakness as a hunting dog and I will be quick to point it out.

I have always been a big believer that the instinct to be a good tree dog is something that a dog is born with be it Hound , Cur or an Airedale. I have trained a lot of Coon dogs never been able to take a sorry tree dog of any breed and make a good tree dog out of it. If I have to knock out a couple of hundred Coon to a dog before it will tree I don't want the SOB.

With the negativity aside I have owned several Airedales that were good tree dogs, and several others that were decent especially if I could get in to the tree fairly quick. I have talked to many of the old timers that claim to have had Airedales that were top Coon dogs and Squirrel dogs in every sense of the word. So we know that they have existed and can be very good tree dogs. Just not often enough to suit me.

The Airedales that made good tree dogs were trained using the same methods and tricks that a hunter would use for any breed used for climbing game. Then there were Airedales that no matter what I did, I could not interest them in treeing.

Too bad that the old hunting lines were not maintained as they should have been, much of the treeing instinct seems to have been lost. Maintaining the trait strong takes judicious breeding.

So to wrap this up, at this particular point in time if you are a big game hunter and have an Airedale from decent hunting lines it seems you have a good chance of having a dog that can produce some game and tree half way decent with proper training.

If you are Coon hunter and expect to have top treeing Coon dogs coming one after another from Airedales it is not going to happen. They come along but not in big numbers or percentages.

A first rate squirrel dog is almost a dream as far as I am concerned, they seem to be an anomaly it is is almost blind luck to get a real good one.

When it comes to hunting many Airedale breeders will tell anything you want to hear especially if they are selling. As Howard Cosell used to say "telling it like it is" will not be very popular in some circles but in my opinion is the best way to go about things. You have to be honest with yourself and others, identify where improvement needs to be made and breed for it.

The positive thing is that almost any trait can be improved upon with good breeding of the correct dogs. Airedales are still great hunting dogs as they are right now and can fill your game sack with all you would want to carry, but there is always room for improvement. Remember all hunting dog breeds emerged from a group of like minded people working together. Herding, retrieving, pointing and treeing were all the result of breeding. The Airedale's treeing abilities can be bred for and along with everything else can be upgraded and improved.

Al Kranbuhl

Shawn Brannon's "Buck" showing how it is done, treeing on a Squirrel with style!

1925 Airedale Article

This Story was written by noted author Albert Payson Terhune. He wrote many articles and books about his dogs [Collies] and also about other types of dogs.





A very few decades ago there was no such dog as the airedale. His various blends of physique and temperament were distributed among several distinct breeds, such as the shaggy otter hound, the wire-haired terrier and one or two others. From each of these breeds, the airedale has taken something worth while- the terrier's alertness and gameness, the otter hound's scent-powers, courage and solid virtues, and so on through the lot.

The most generally accepted version of the airedale's origin is this: Among the mine-pits of the Ayr, the various groups of miners each sought to develop a dog which could outfight and outhunt and outthink the other mine's dogs. Tests of the first-named virtue were made in inter-mine dogfights. Bit by bit, thus, an active, strong, heroic, compactly graceful and clever dog was evolved- the earliest true form of airedale.

Then the outer world's dog fancy got hold of him and shaped and improved him into the show-type airedale terrier of today. The process was not long, for the newly evolved dogs were quick to adapt themselves to their creators' wishes. Out of the experiments emerged the modern airedale, a dog that does not know the word "fear." He is swift, formidable, graceful, big of brain, an ideal chum and guard.

There is nothing he is afraid to tackle. There is almost nothing he cannot be taught if his trainer has the slightest gift for teaching. To his master he is an adoring pal. To marauders he is a destructive lightning bolt.

In the southwest and elsewhere, the otter hound ancestry and its traits have been made use of by numerous sportsmen in teaching airedales to do the work of pointers and setters and other hunting dogs. For nose and for steadiness and for snappy retrieving and for finding fallen birds, these field-trained airedales have given surprisingly good account of themselves.

There is nothing thrown away in an airedale's make-up. Every inch of him is in use. Compact, wiry, he is "all there." No flabby by-products. A perfect machine- a machine with brain, plus.

Crossbreeding is apt to have a stimulating effect on the mind and the physique of all dogs. The airedale is still so new, as a distinct breed, that he retains an unusual amount of the sense and the strength of the primal cross-breed, an asset of high value in this era of delicate and inbred dogs of so many kinds.

At almost the outset, the airedale's long tail was sacrificed to trimness and to fighting efficiency. Don't get the idea he is born with the smartly stumpy tail he now sports. It is amputated, at precisely the right length, while his a baby. He is born long-tailed, just as the bull-terrier and the Great Dane and the Doberman are born with lop ears, and later have their ears cut, painfully, to the shape and pricked position demanded by fashion.

Centuries ago, so it is said, a tax was imposed on all dogs' tails- presumably inferring a tax on the whole dog. Rich men paid the tax in order to keep their dogs. Poor men loved their mongrel dogs as much as the rich loved their thoroughbreds. But they could not afford to pay the high tax. So they hit on the idea of cutting off their dogs' tails, so that there should be no tail to be taxed. The animals thus docked were know as "curtailed dogs," shortened presently to "cur dogs" or to "curs."

The airedale's tail was cut off for no such cause as this, but to add to his trimness and to be out of the way in a fight. It adds a finish and style to his looks, this semi- erect tail stump.

For a long time there was a belief among many that airedales' tempers were as short as their tails. This is not true. The airedale will not avoid a fight. But he seldom goes looking for one. As a rule he is courteous to his master's accredited guests and to the world at large. He minds his own business and does what his owner tells him to. Incidentally, he shows powers of brain and of instinct found in few other dogs. He can be humanized to a remarkable extent.

Yes, the airedale is worthy of the words of the late Senator Vest, of Missouri.

Fashion can never rule him out of existence. Too many people have learned to value him above any other breed. He is here to stay. He has won his right to permanence.

Airedale As A Fur Hunter

This is an article written in the early part of the last century about the Airedale Terrier as a hunting dog when they were still new as a breed in the US. It was in a magazine called "Fur News" which was the predecessor to, and went on to become todays "Fur Fish and Game" magazine. I personally can relate well to this piece because it is basically the way I have always hunted my Airedales. I do not agree exactly with everything Mr Howard has to say but in my opinion he is pretty much on the mark especially when it comes to teaming up and running Airedales with Hounds..

Al Kranbuhl

==============================================




The Airedale as A Fur Hunter, By FW Howard


Airedale Terriers have become one of the most popular breeds in America. This bred originated some 40 years ago as the result of an effort to produce a hunting dog larger and stronger than the Terriers in use at the time. A dog with all the vim and pep of a Terrier but at the same time large and able enough to cope with Otters and Badgers.

Crosses were made which included two or three of the favorite breeds of Terriers with the Otter hound. From these crosses a type was selected. They became to be known and spoken of as Waterside Terriers and later as Airedale Terriers because the breed originated in a valley of that name.

In America the breed has become a favorite mainly on account of qualities as a hunter. Airedales are not handsome dogs in the sense that the Collie, Setter or Pointer, but rather in the way the Irishman put it, "They are so damned ugly, they are good looking."

They are second to no breed when it comes to being game and having grit. Another quality that helps their popularity is that they are known as a one man dog, meaning they attach them selves to the man or family and do not make friends readily with others.

The Airedale Terrier seems to possess most of the qualities that should make them good hunters. Along with a rough heavy coat to withstand wet and cold, great activity, splendid courage and a fairly good nose. Many of them are used to hunt Bear and Mountain Lion in the west and this writer has seen a good many letters from hunters praising their work on such game.

It is this writer's opinion that they should prove to be excellent varmint dogs. It is very probable that they are a little hard to break to hunt exclusively for certain sorts of game. They are just as ready to hunt Bumble Bees as Bears, any and everything is game to them. However careful teaching and patience will accomplish wonders and one well broken to hunt Coon, Skunk, Opossum and Mink should prove to be as good as the best still trailers.

So far as this writer has been able to learn, they have given the best results when used along with Hounds. For this purpose they are exactly adapted because they are very fast workers, extra good in the water and as killers are without equal.

Even Von Plott of the famous Plott family that developed the Plott Hound breed liked to have an Airedale in his pack.  Plott had affection for the grit and tenacity of the Airedale. But he also said that their strength was their biggest weakness in that they were TOO aggressive, and as a result almost never lived very long.

Von described a hunt on Hazel Creek with his nephew Little George in which his last Airedale was killed. If I recall correctly the dog was a female and Von called her by name. He said the dog attacked a big bear and that the bruin swatted her so hard that it broke almost every bone in her body, killing her instantly. Von described the dead dogs body as being"like jelly."


A good still trailing dog broken to hunt with one or two good Hounds form a team that is hard to beat for coon. They will tree twice as many as either variety used separately for the reason that each possess qualities that the other lacks, and it really takes the two methods of hunting and in combination to produce the very best results.

Still trailing dogs, if good wide rangers, used alone often tree so far from the hunter that he can not hear them at the tree, (Especially on windy nights). The hunter has no idea in which direction to look for them and is apt to lose a good deal of game in that way. Furthermore still dogs rarely if ever possess the keen scenting ability of a good hound and are able to work only fresh trails. On hunting grounds where the the tracks are few, this is a considerable handicap.

On the other hand when Hounds are on the trail it is almost certain of late years at least, that the coon will be wise to what is going on by time the open dogs have the track fairly warmed up. As soon as the coon suspects the dogs are after him, he loses no time whatever in getting to use every means known to him to get away.

If near water he takes water and often swims long distances, very often succeeding in throwing off the dogs completely, or at least delaying them greatly. Thus they will gain time to reach some safe hole in the rocks, a den tree or to practice some of the many tricks he has up his sleeve.

When a still dog has been taught to work with Hounds, he eventually learns when and where he can do the most good. He soon realizes that he will be able to work surer and easier than he can alone. When they start to work a cold track he simply "sticks around" and awaits developments. If the Hounds succeed in warming the track up to a point where the still dog's nose begins to function, it can be readily observed by his action. The tail begins to wave and he will get very busy. Very likely he will let out a yap or two and will be gone like a shot. The method used by the still dog to close in on the coon has always been a good deal of a puzzle to this writer. He does not attempt to follow the trail as the Hounds do it. He hasn't the patience, or it is not according to his gifts. It has seemed to the writer that when the still dog can get the scent either from foot prints, or from the grass, weeds or bushes his method is to cover the ground at his best speed in the general direction the tracks are leading, depending on getting a direct scent from the coon itself.

Whatever the method the still dog, if he is a good one will be pretty apt to be barking at the tree within five minutes after he starts on the track anywhere from a quarter of a mile to a mile ahead of the Hounds. That the Coon is taken unaware is often proved by the sort of tree he is forced to take and frequently he is overtaken in the water or on the ground. It is for this purpose in hunting Coon, possum, Skunk and Mink and the like that the Airedale Terrier appears to this writer to be especially adapted. In other words, a much larger percentage of this breed would be apt to turn out to be good for the purpose than would prove good in most other breeds and cross breeds.

With out a doubt all readers of Fur News who are interested in fur hunting dogs would be glad to read the experience of those who have used and broken Airedales for tree dog and used for fur hunting.

A pretty accurate assessment of the Airedale and his use as a hunting dog from the early 1900s.

Airedales and Their Training By L. L. E.

I AM not going to waste space telling you all about the history of Airedales. You can look that up; probably have already; what I hope to do is say something with at least some newness in it. I am decidedly favorable to the Airedale; and believe I can give some good reasons why you should be. I once heard a man at a dogshow praise this dog in substantially these words:

The Airedale is not as good at retrieving as the Setter; not as good finding as the Pointer; can't trail like the Beagle; nor run like the Greyhound; but he can do all of these things; summed up; better than any of these dogs. The gentleman meant this as a compliment; and it is; but he didn't go far enough. He voiced the usual attitude; that is; the Airedale is an all-purpose clog without a specialty.

My claim is that the Airclale has a specialty; an important one; in his fighting ability. Some breeder has said that an Airedale can do anything any other dog can do and then whip the other dog; and this is almost literally true. But you may argue that fighting is of no use. But listen; the fighting instinct is; you and I do not need pugilistic prowess in our daily life; but we do have constant use for that.

It is easy to get a puppy whose parents have proved their possession of the traits you desire in your hunter.

Next, start your Airedale's training earlier than you would that of most other breeds. His superior intelligence and physical hardihood make him at six months the equal, both in receptivity and performance, of many dogs half as old again.

Start him on rats. Though the biggest of terriers, still the Airedale is a terrier in nature, and ratting is as natural to him as swimming is to a fish. He will need no particular training. Put a few rats in a hole, after letting him see them, and he will do the rest. The ground must not be so hard as to discourage his first few attempts, and it is a good plan to select young rats. The idea is to make certain of your dog's success while he is a beginner.

---

Assuming that your Airedale is to be used for all-round purposes, as most of these dogs are, rabbit-running will be good training, though on account of the difference in scenting power few if any Airedales ever class with the Beagle as an out-andout rabbit dog. While the terrier can handle a body scent fairly well, the foot scent stumps him. He is unexcelled in stirring bunny out, putting him on the run, because of his boundless energy, and he can catch a rabbit on a fair run; but he is not at his best when rabbitting. The Airedale is a champion on digging, and I believe him peerless as a badger or skunk dog.

Some writers term the Airedale a mute hunter. Of course dogs of the same breed often differ widely, but most of the terriers I have known were plenty full of bark. It is for this reason that they make good partridge doga. Of course any dog can put up a bunch of birds when he runs among them, but anAiredale is so full of energy, antics, and "barks" that he interests them far more than a sedate dog could.

So curious are the birds to learn about this bold noisy interloper that they will perch on a low limb and actually invite disaster from the shotgun, remaining even after several are shot down. And it is the same with a squirrel: he will quarrel with and tantalize a dog when nothing else could keep him out of his hole. The Airedale terrier will keep him interested every minute, and perhaps give the hunter several shots.

The Airedale makes an excellent retriever, particularly from water. I am aware that many old duck shooters scorn the idea and argue that the Setter has no equal. But facts are stubborn things, and it has been positively proved that the Airedale often equals any Setter. Here again his innate courage is an advantage; he will unflinchingly meet conditions that make a Setter hesitate, and consequently will reach the bird quicker. Though he does not possess the Chesapeake Bay's coat, he is fully as ready to enter cold water. And in the water he is the strongest of dogs, and the best diver.

Though a staunch admirer of the Setter and Spaniel, I must say that I have seen some of these dogs decidedly slow, even unwilling, on diving. An Airedale owner gives an interesting experience: As a result of an argument with the owner of a Setter, he bet that his terrier would do something in the way of retrieving that the bird-dog would not do. The wager was made, $5! believe ;and the Airedalebooster tied a rock to a rabbit he had shot, threw it into the water, and told his dog to "fetch." Without a moment's hesitation, even eagerly, the terrier did it; he went clear out of sight but when he came up he had the rabbit, and he delivered it "to hand."

I should say the Airedale's greatest virtue as a hunter lies in his "backing up" quality. He is at his best with a pack of hounds; they trail the game to bay and the Airedale finishes it. His great stamina leaves him comparatively fresh after a long run. If he shows too much inclination to fight the other dogs, keep him muzzled until his teeth are required, meantimes curing the fault by suitable reproof—not too severe.

One thing more. In training the Airedale always remember that there is one little thing more distracting to him than to other dogs, his master's voice. Don't speak, even to praise him, until he has finished his task; for so great is this wonderful fellow's love for his human pal that he may impulsively drop the work in hand and rush pellmell to your side. And don't scold him much; for this trait is what makes him the greatest "one man dog" in existence.

Redline Airedale Comments

An article myself and Henry Johnson did a few years ago for Pete Bassani's "Traditional Working Airedale" "Full Cry Magazine" column.

Al Kranbuhl

A nice pair of first rate, hunting bred, game getting "Redline" type Airedales owned by Paul Unger of Canada "Sansa" & "Ranger" produced by hunting line Airedale breeders Pete Basanni and Clint Stubbe.

REDLINE COMMENTS

I would say one of the most asked Airedale questions I get in recent times is what is my opinion about the Redline type Airedale? Well for a long time I never had a whole lot to say about them because basically I really did not know a lot about them. Before I shoot my mouth off on a subject I like to be in a bit of a position to know what I am talking about, for me that means some first hand experience!

While still far from being any kind of expert on Redlines, over the years I have owned and worked with a few thus gaining quite a bit of personal experience with them. On top of which I have had conversations with other owners-breeders and old timers whose word I consider to be honest and truthful. After soaking up all this information, I have gained some substantial knowledge and have my own opinions that I would like to share with other Airedale folks. They can take it for what it is worth and come up with their own conclusion.

For those readers that do not know the first thing I am talking about, a Redline Airedale in it's simplest explanation is an Airedale Terrier, for whatever the reason is born with a very short, almost smooth hard dense coat. Even though the coat is short upon close examination one can see it still is the typical Airedale double coat, a soft almost cottony undercoat with a very hard wiry outer coat. They also have a rich red tan color along with the typical black saddle, I have as yet to see a short-slick coated Airedale with the so called grizzle colored coat. Like I said the coat is very short and the length can go from a slick type to one with some of the furnishing on the legs and chin getting a bit longer, still much shorter in comparison to what most would consider a typical Airedale coat.

The term Redline is of course attributed to Henry Johnson, a life time Airedale man who most of us remember from his long time stint as writer of the Tennessee Valley Airedale column in Full Cry magazine. Henry was the first one to delve in and research the short coat Airedales, looking into what they are and where they came from. His writings about the Redline Airedale are classic stuff and completely make sense. I happen to agree with his work on the subject because my own experiences and investigations into the short coat Airedales jive pretty much with what Henry found.

The main thing I want to address is all the misinformation that seems to be floating around about these Redlines. There are folks that love them, folks that hate them and folks that don't know what to make of them. The American Airedale Terrier Club of America I am sure would love to see them go away even though they are closer to fitting their precious standard than the stuff parading in the show ring. This show oriented bunch are probably the main reason for much of the bad publicity and the decline in Redline Airedale numbers over the years. The breed club lives and dies by it's almighty standard and any Airedale whose conformation is outside of that standard is looked upon with a very dim view. Then there are a couple of kennel-breeders with so called hunting lines that are trying to make a living off their dogs, they will bash them at every opportunity. They see Redline Airedales as a threat to their sales and bottom line.

Pictured is Paul Unger's Redline Airedale "Ranger", I am here to tell you that this guy is "All Airedale"!! One is lucky to see his kind once in a lifetime, when it comes to hunting, be it birds, small game or big game and a good tree dog "Ranger" is an Airedale that can actually do all the hunting feats we read about in the old Airedale books.



Ranger showed here putting the run on a Grizz


First of all Redline type Airedales are "NOT" a cross breed, they are "NOT" a solid red color, nor are they some separate line of Airedale Terrier. They can and have, and still will occur in many Airedale lines, simply put it is basically a genetic anomaly for a short dense hard coat. From the information I have been able to garner, before World War 2 short haired Airedales were fairly common dogs and no big deal. The farther one goes back in Airedale history the more common they appear to have been. This is a fact not some made up stuff. I have talked to many old time Airedale men and they remember them well. Some time ago I had an 89 year old life time Airedale man get a pup from me and he had some stories to tell. He was around when the Airedale was the most popular dog in America. At the time I had one Redline Type Airedale and this old timer looked him over. I asked him if he had ever seen an Airedale with a natural short coat? He replied that he had seen quite a few of them in the old days. While the typical longer wire coated Airedales far out number the slick coats that, they still were fairly common enough when he was a boy. He personally did not care for them himself and much preferred an Airedale with a longer coat. I have had many other similar conversations with old time Airedale folks remembering and seeing short coat Airedales. I will add that on the other hand I have had other long time Airedalers tell me they have never seen such an Airedale and I can believe that also.

We all have to remember that in the old days accurate Airedale information was not nearly as available, much Airedale information and pictures were just not easy to come by. Most Airedale info came from books in libraries and occasional magazine articles. You simply read what you could find and that is what you had to go on. Even when a book is found it is one of the newer ones with pictures of current show type Airedales and most spew the Airedale Terrier Club Of America philosophy, fine if your goal is "Westminster" but not much help if you are looking to tree a coon. Since the personal computer revolution and the internet, information has exploded and is available in an instant. I am still today finding new stuff about Airedales on a constant and consistent basis.

Then there are the many historical photos, drawings and paintings of short coated Airedales, we have a bunch of them posted on the Traditional Working Airedale message board for all to see. I have heard some say that the Airedales in all those old pictures must have been shaved, I say "Baloney"! More grasping for straws, there are just way too many pictures and again there are just way too many old timers that actually saw and remember them for that lame explaination to hold water anymore.

The way I see things from what information that I have compiled is that the Airedale breed as a whole took a huge dip in numbers during the depression and also WW2. Here in the US they went from one of the most popular breeds ever to some pretty low numbers. After the war there was somewhat of a resurgence and a big influx of imported show types from England and also Europe. These imports and their crosses came to dominate the Airedale landscape. A change in the Airedale's look can readily be seen in pictures when comparing Airedales before the WW2 and the Airedales after WW2 on up to today's Airedale.

An example of a current Airedale Terrier Show Dog Coat.



The pre war Airedales (even the show dogs) on a whole had a much shorter and harder coat than many of the Airedales one sees currently. I would have to say that many of the show Airedales of today with the coat left to grow out would be a good two inches longer in length than the pre war Airedales. The short coated Redline types were almost bred out of existence and it is why they are such a shock to see by the uneducated Airedale people of today.

EXAMPLES OF SOME EARLY CHAMPION SHOW DOGS
Remember these dogs pictured were some of the finest examples of Airedales during that period in time.


I believe the reason these short coat Airedales seem to be becoming a bit more common is the renewed interest in the Airedale as a hunting dog. I will only speak for myself but I have not found much to cheer about with the show Airedales of today as far as natural hunting ability goes. You can not for generations continue to breed dogs solely for a look and completely neglect their performance and ability in the field and expect to produce good hunting dogs, just not going to happen. I and other breeders looking at Airedales as hunting dogs and breeding them purposely for the hunt have been seeking out the old American working lines noted for their abilities as hunters. Old lines like Oorang, Mooreland, Ouachita, Cabin Hill, Lionheart and the recent Sandhill line to name a few. Then there is the occasional small time breeders that kept just a personal line that was worked and hunted with for many generations. Irene Yates was such a breeder and one of my best came from her line which also produced the JR Gator dog who was a pretty fair hunting Airedale. Odon Corr is another small breeder with very good hunting type Airedales.

Early Redline type Airedale

What seems to be happening is as hunting Airedale breeders take these old lines into their programs and select their breeding stock almost solely on the individual dog's ability to hunt is these Redline type Airedales are beginning appear on a much more frequent basis. We are in essence breeding Airedales backwards to the way they once were, primarily as hunting-working dogs and not only has the hunting performance changed and got better but the shorter coated pre war look is returning as a natural side effect on it's own. I have to believe that this is the major reason why many of these Redline type Airedales seem to make decent hunting dogs. NOT because they have slick coats, but because of their "breeding", it is the lines they are emerging from that they get the hunt. Now I don't want to give the impression that I think all short coated Airedales will make great hunting dogs. They and all other Airedales along with all the other hunting dog breeds have their fair share of sorry dogs as anyone with any kind of experience knows, "they all do not make it". And again I will remind all that it is possible for a Redline to pop up from any line even some modern show lines although with much less frequency. Again a particular dog will almost always reflect their hunting-working abilities from lines they came from. It is all about the breeding and don't forget it.

So in a nutshell most folks that have really taken a good hard look into these slick Airedales believe they really are nothing more than just throwbacks in look to to some of the old pre war and much earlier Airedales.

Now let me address a few more Redline questions I get and answer them as best I can. One I hear a lot is "how come they have such a pointed muzzle compared to a regular Airedale?"

Well let me tell you all, years ago when I first started looking into this Redline business I kind of wondered about that myself. It was simple enough to find out, so I took it upon myself to take one of my "hair-bags" and shave his coat down with clippers to the length of a Redline, "including the complete head!" Guess what? Under that bearded square brick shaped Airedale muzzle is the same pointed snout as the Redline Airedale! NO KIDDING! Below is an example of what I am talking about, a fuzzy Airedale that had his coat buzzed off for the summer months, same dog totally different look.

Another Terrier breed makes my point perfectly. The Wirehaired Fox Terrier and the Smooth Haired Fox Terrier. The Smooth looks to have a much more pointed muzzle but it is really no different from the Wirehair. In fact these two now separate Fox Terriers were once bred together on a frequent basis. And while speaking of other breeds there are others that have both smooth and wire coat dogs so this is not as odd of a happening as one would believe. To name a few like Jack Russells, Jadgterrier, Dachshunds Collies, Pointers, etc. etc. As we can see some breed clubs embraced diversity and other do away with it and want "cookie cutter" dogs. As for me I am all for diversity! A dog's hide has little or nothing to do with performance, it is whats underneath the hide and what is between the ears along with smart breeding that makes a  good hunting dog!                                          

Another myth about Redlines is that they are for the most part small in size, fine boned Airedales and again this is not true. Like any other Airedale their size will again be determined from the line they came from. Paul Unger's Ranger pictured above tips the scale at over 70 pounds. I currently have a male slick coat that has been weighed on accurate vet scales several times and he comes in at around 65 lbs and is of good bone, some Airedale people consider 65 lbs on the large side. My dog's size is a reflection of the size of my line of Airedales as most of my males come in somewhere around that weight give or take a few pounds. I once saw a picture of a male Redline type that was close to 90 lbs and on the other end of the scale I kept a runt female slick coat that might weigh 40 lbs (she thinks she weighs 100 lbs). In short they can be any typical Airedale size and remember the easiest thing to change as a breeder is size. In just a few generations you can move them up or move them down to suit you.

I have also heard reports of shyness or lack of grit in Redlines and I am sure there are shy ones and some with no grit. But by the same token let me tell you I have seen plenty of the same in your so called conventional looking Airedales as well. Most of the pure show type Airedales I have worked had serious problems in those areas. Again it is the breeding that determines these traits and when you have a breeder not testing their dogs on real game for these faults you will end up with sorry dogs. My slicks both have shown me they have more than enough grit for the hunting that I do and I expect no less, they are the same genetically as their longer coated littermates in this respect, why in the world would they be different?

Airedale Terriers since WW 2 have unfortunately have come under the iron grip of their breed club and as with most breed clubs the folks running them are for the most part show people not hunters. When any working breed is bred with almost the sole concern focused on the standard to produce "cookie cutter dogs" the working part is going to fade and fade fast. Here is just one quote example of what the "Hunting-Working type Airedale" is up against, below is a bit of typical show-breed club propaganda I found floating around on the world wide web!

"There is no such thing as a working type of Airedale and a show type. There is only one correct type of Airedale for any purpose he may be put to. There is no more excuse for breeding large, soft-coated, houndy eared, thick skulled, light eyed mutts, and calling them working type of Airedale"

YIKES!

And you can surely bet a large sum of money that the Redline-slick coat Airedale would be thrown in for good measure by the person who authored that statement. There is no question in my mind that whoever made the above statement was no way any kind of hunter. When you have this kind of mindset that is bent upon producing a look above all other else I will guarantee your breed's performance in the field will suffer.

Penny Taylor's Redline Airedale "Dill" doing her job when the going gets tough in the briars & brambles.


In closing I say that the hunting ability of my Airedales has always been my primary goal and interest. I have to be honest and say that in breeding with that goal in mind many of my better hunting Airedales were and are the so called "light eyed" "heavy eared mutts" the ATCA hates. I am a breeder seeking to produce high performing hunting dogs, for me to throw out the best hunters because of their look and breed lesser dog because it fits a standard better is insane.

When it comes to coat, looks and conformation I like to as the old saying goes, let the "form follow function" Through judicious breeding for performance and using the best of those dogs, the best conformation for the tasks such dogs are being bred for will come to the forefront for the most part on it's own.

As for the Redlines, to deny them is ridiculous, in my opinion it would be a terrible loss of the Airedale's past and history to have them disappear completely and just have old pictures to remember them by. I for one hope that there will always be a few around because they just plain deserve to be. The fact of the matter is there are situations like very hot climates and heavy cover thick with burrs and stickers, where a short coated hunting Airedale is just plain more practical. And lastly from my experience I have to say "Redlines" really are nice Airedales that are up to the traditions of the breed's founders in both their look and ability at hunting, they are clearly holding up their end of the Airedale's storied legacy as can be seen in the pictures here on this blog's Airedales in action section.

Audwin McGee's Redline female"Lolo" hunting hogs on three legs, one of her rear legs had to be amputated due to an idiot shooting her. Her Airedale determination, drive and spirit does the whole Airedale breed proud in my opinion!

---

========================================
From Henry Johnson

Al:

Very much appreciate your Redline Comments and look forward to seeing them in Pete Bassani's Full Cry column. As to old photos showing short-coated Airedales, some of them were English champions of the time and no one showing those dogs at that time would have shaved off beards or leg furnishings. They were just naturally minimal or non-existent in the breed at that time. Also, as you say, all terrier breeds and several other breeds have smooth, broken, and rough coated lines, frequently in the same litters. I was told once by a show Airedale breeder that years ago, in the first half of the 20th Century, it was fairly common for short-coated pups to appear in show line litters. The show breeders routinely disposed of such pups in an effort to get those traits out of the gene pool. The longer coated dogs offered the groomers and handlers much more to work with in that they could strip and artificially color the dogs to hide faults and shape them to make them look more impressive for the show ring. Not much you can do to change the look of the very short-coated "redline" type.

1904 Airedale



If you have or can find a copy of Holland Buckley's book "The Airedale Terrier", published in England in the early 1900s you will see many pictures of short-coated Airedale show champions of that time with no leg furnishings and minimal beards or no beards at all, dogs we would call "redline" types now. Buckley goes to great lengths to describe these dogs. I will quote here just a little of what he says about them.

"An Airedale, bred on corrrect modern lines, needs no tonsorial aid, and is, without doubt, the happier for it. And, after all, that is the first consideration of a real fancier, whether his favorite be a pet or a workman. The idea that clever trimming will deceive an experienced judge is really laughable. Try it on with any of our front rank judges, and you will be fired out of the ring, with an unsympathetic reference to the show being a month too soon for your shorn Terrier. A broken coat can, no doubt, to the casual eye, cover a multitude of sins, and sometimes a sausage body; but how any expert can cover up, by trimming, defects of make and shape is one of those things, as Lord Dundreary would say, 'no fellah can understand'--always allowing, of course, that the judge is a capable one. An adjudicator who knows his business will always penalize exhibits trimmed up for his deception. There are certain lines of blood that make for sheep coats. Breeders have themselves wholly to blame if they breed to those lines. A smooth coated bitch of modern breeding is the best asset a fancier can have in his kennel."

As you say, the best I have been able to figure is that the redline type Airedale is a throwback to the early members of the breed, when, as Holland Buckley put it, "the chief object being to breed a dog that could live in the water and tackle anything from a rat to an otter with unflinching gameness."

HSJ
Fults Cove
Tennessee

Henry's Redline Airedale "Jingo"



===================================

And here is a few more of Henry's thoughts on the Redline type Airedale.

Henry Johnson:

Regarding the very short haired, sometimes even slick-coated airedales, they all seem to be what I have been calling the Redline type but can be quite diverse in temperament.

Some of them seem to carry recessive shyness genes, while others show not the slightest trace of this. As a general rule, mot of them seem to have intense hunting drive. Some show Bull terrier physical traits and some even appear to me as if there maybe Irish or Gordon setterr or somekind of sight hound blood in them. All this diversity and doubt about their origins has led to what Kevin Kelly calls the "original stew hypothesis".

What that says is that these Redline types are throwbacks to the pre-1900 airedale and you are getting back to the point where some of the different lines that went into the making of the breed become more apparent, even if you are not exactly sure what they are. Support for this hypothesis exists in pictures of early airedales in old English publications. Few of them had noticeable beards or leg furnishings before around 1900. Also, Barbara Burns, a second generation airedale breeder from Connecticutt, tells me that in her memory, very short to slick coated Redline type pups appeared in airedale litters in the northeast from time to time. Most breeders culled them or placed them without papers, but in at least one case a former president of the airedale terrier club of America showed one of them to a championship under all-rounder judges.

I think if you wanted you could take Redline stock and by selective breeding take it back to a Bull terrier type of a Sheepdog or maybe even a sight hound type, but it would be more dificult
to go back to the Otterhound or the Old English Black and tan terrier. With some other Airedale strains I am familiar with it would be fairly easy to selectively breed for Otterhound characteristics or for smaller, terrier types.

With hunting dogs I am not all that much in favor of the dictates of central authority. I think everybody should do what they think best and breed for what they want, given their terrain and quarry. For myself, I want an all-round hunting/ working/companion dog and not a specialist. I have a classic Redline type in my yard. That's my Old Jack (Hammer/Sass, 11/9/98). When I take him anywhere with me people either love him or don't like the type at all. There is never any middle ground. I'm not sure what I will do with him. I don't want to breed that myself, but do like maybe up to a quarter of it in my line. I'll have to wait and see where I go with this. Right now, I'm just not sure.

One more thing I will say before leaving the subject of slick or very short coated Redline type Airedales. Thet do have ccoat, usually an inch or so of pretty hard wire over much of the body, just very little beard or leg furnishings. And these short, hard coats are closer to what the Airedale standard calls for than what you see on a great many highly bred Airedales today, the ones I call "fluffy dogs". I'll take a quarter of that Redline blood anytime if it helps me get the short, hard, Airy coat the airedale is supposed to have.

======================================

For more about the variety and differences in Airedale coats I have taken from the Traditional Working Airedale board Henry's quadrant system in picture form and posted it here on this blog to give folks a little bit better idea of what he is talking about.

Al Kranbuhl

---

One of the first things we would like to recommend to any hunter that is thinking about trying an Airedale Terrier and looking for accurate hunting information is to subscribe to "Full Cry Magazine" which has an Airedale hunting column every month and to join the private "Traditional Working Airedale" message board, "Home of the Hunting Airedale"!

They are "the source" for any and everything that has to do with the breeding, training and hunting with Airedale Terriers.

www.americancooner.com Full Cry

http://traditionalairedale.proboards.com/index.cgi? Traditional Working Airedale message board

A Dad snaps a photo of his boy with his 22 rifle and a Redline Airedale out in the field, it don't get much better than that!