The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Airedale, by Williams Haynes

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Title: The Airedale

Author: Williams Haynes

Release Date: October 22, 2013 [eBook #43998]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AIREDALE***

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The Airedale

CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I

THE BIGGEST AND BEST TERRIER

It was in the Merchants' Hotel, Manchester—a famous gathering place for the dog fanciers of the English Midlands, the most thickly dog populated district in the whole world—that one autumn evening I heard the best definition of an Airedale that I ever knew. A party of us, fresh from some bench show, were seated round a table waiting for dinner, and naturally we were talking dog, telling dog stories, anecdotes, and jokes. I gave the American definition of a dachshund; "half a dog high and a dog and a half long," and Theodore Marples, editor of Our Dogs, turning to a quiet little man, noted as a wild fanatic on the subject of Airedales, asked him his definition of his favorite breed. Quick as a spark he answered, "The biggest and best terrier!"

There are thousands of people, all sorts of people from bankers to beggars, scattered all over this earth from Dawson City to Capetown, from Moscow to Manila, who will echo the statement that the Airedale is indeed the biggest and the best of all the terriers. Moreover, their votes would not be bribed by mere sentiment, but based upon good, sound reasons, for it is certain that he is the biggest, and he is "best" at doing more things than any other dog in the stud book.

An Airedale will drive sheep or cattle; he will help drag a sled; he will tend the baby; he will hunt anything from a bear to a field mouse. He can run like a wolf and will take to water like an otter. He does not "butt in" looking for trouble with each dog that he passes on the street, but once he is "in" he will stick, for he is game as a pebble. He is kind, obedient, thoroughly trustworthy as a companion for children, or a watchman for your property. He has the disposition of a lamb combined with the courage of a lion. He is certainly the most all-round dog that there is and, unlike many Jacks-of-all-trades, he is apparently quite able to master all tasks a dog is called upon to perform.

Over and above his talents and his character, the Airedale has a constitution made of steel and stone. He is equally at home in the snow wastes of the Arctic Circle and on the alkali deserts of Arizona. The dry, bracing air of Colorado and the fever-soaked atmosphere of Florida's Everglades both seem to agree with him perfectly. A sick Airedale is just about as common as a dodo.

"The biggest and best terrier" indeed fits him to a T, but it does not convey any very definite idea as to what he should look like. Even his most enthusiastic admirers never claimed beauty for the Airedale. He is not pretty, unless we acknowledge that "handsome is that handsome does," and can see the beauty of perfect symmetry under wiry coat and odd coloring.

A good Airedale is about as big as a pointer; somewhere in the neighborhood of forty-five pounds, a little more for a dog and a little less for a bitch. His head should be long; the skull flat and broad; the cheeks smooth; the muzzle strong with tight lips over big, white, even teeth. His eyes should be small, dark, and full of fire and his ears little, carried high, and shaped like a V, for nothing can so detract from the correct terrier expression as large, light eyes and houndy ears. His front legs ought to be a pair of gun barrels, straight and strong and about the same thickness all the way down. His shoulders are like those of a race horse, long and sloping; while his pads should be firm and hard, not those loose, sprawly feet sometimes seen.

The only kind of a back for him to have is short, and his ribs must be well sprung. A long backed dog lacks staying qualities, and a slab-sided one has not the room for lungs. His chest should be deep, but narrow, and he should be slightly cut up in the loin—not the wasp-like waist of a greyhound,—but no better is a body like a stovepipe. His hindquarters should be strong, with the hocks quite near the ground. The Airedale that does not carry a gay tail is a delight to no eye.

Last, but not least, comes the