Most visitors to North of England shows must have been struck by the appearance of the large rough-coated dogs which it is now the fashion to style Airedale terriers. The animal itself is simply the old Yorkshire waterside terrier, a little improved in looks by careful breeding, rechristened, and brought before the public as the "coming breed." Many ideas are prevalent as regards the origin of the variety, but as it has for years and years been in the hands of a class of men whose pockets are not deep, and whose ideas of breeding up to a standard are somewhat vague, the Airedale ancestry is decidedly mixed, and all hopes of disentangling the ramifications of its family tree are positively futile. In fact, a north-country authority on the breed writes as follows:

"They (the Airedales) are the produce of sires and dams put together without any idea of breeding to a standard of excellence, but simply to produce a dog useful for the semi-rural sports suited to the tastes and pockets of the somewhat impecunious class to which their admirers mostly belong. It is almost impossible to trace the origin of the breed to any particular source. Some districts claim to have a breed with forty years' pedigree, but in several attempts that have been made to trace one of these strains it has invariably happened that, beyond a generation or two, all trace of individual dogs gets merged into So-and-so's breed, which were descended from a bitch from So-and-so, which was put to a dog from such a place, and so on".

In my opinion, both the otter hound and Irish terrier are largely responsible for the existence of the so-called Airedale terrier, and no doubt the aid of some or other of the various breeds of terrier was enlisted from time to time. Many authorities aver that bull blood was used; others maintain that it was Scotch or Dandie blood that was resorted to; whilst others still declare that the animal is made up of an olla podrida of Scotch, Dandie, Bedlington, and bull terrier, mixed up with otterhound.

So far, I am aware that my endeavours to supply information about the origin of the Airedale have not been attended with success, but upon the merits of the breed I can speak with more authority, having had the benefit of the experience of a gentleman who took it up some short time back from the glowing accounts he had heard of its gameness and bottom. The result was most mortifying. He could make nothing of the dogs, and was heartily glad to get rid of them. Prom what he tells me concerning Airedales, I have no doubt that they potter about the banks of a river, and take water well, and that they will kill rats, which, as they scale from 401b. to 501b., is not much in their favour. I will even go further, and admit that specimens may be produced which will tackle a badger under protest; but not another step will I go in favour of the Airedales as a game, hard-bitten race.

In support of my views, I shall quote from a letter just received from a gentleman who has owned Airedales, and whose opinions are identical with what I have stated above. He writes:

"Airedale terriers are a failure. The result of my experiences of them is that I find them to have good noses, they will beat a hedgerow, will find and kill rats and rabbits, and work well with ferrets. They are good water dogs and companions, possessing a fair amount of intelligence. This is the sum total of their excellence. They came to me with a great reputation for gameness, but out of fourteen that I have personally tried at badger and fighting with a bull terrier of 241b., I have never found one game - at least to my idea of the word".

This is strong speaking, but this gentleman's experiences corroborate every word of what has gone before, and the woeful exhibition made by some Airedales when tried at a badger at Wolverhampton last January was literally the laugh of the show.

Summing up the merits and demerits of the breed, it must be said of the Airedale that his want of heart, his size, the diversity of types, and tendency to throw back in breeding, are great drawbacks, which his fondness for water scarcely out-balances. Therefore, when we find, as I believe we can, that a wire-haired Scotch, Dandie Dinmont, Skye, Irish, or small bull terrier possesses all the gameness of the Airedale (in addition to which they take up one quarter of the room, and can go to earth), the question only remains, " Why keep an Airedale ? "

The accompanying woodcut is an illustration of the Airedale terrier bitch Fracture, the property of Mr. L. P. C. Astley, of Wolverhamption. She was bred by Mr. Wade, and is by Crack out of Poll. Fracture is an extremely well-made Airedale, her head and body and feet being very good, but her coat is rather too soft in texture. Still, she was no doubt the best at the Wolverhampton Show last January, where she won cleverly in a rather strong class.

Points Of The Airedale

Grand Total 100.

Head (Value 20)

Skull flat and fairly wide, the muzzle long and punishing, teeth level, and lips tight.

Eyes (Value 5)

Small and dark.

Ears (Value 5)

Vine-leaf shaped, rather large in size, though fine in texture, and button, like a fox terrier's.

Shoulders (Value 5)

Should slope well on to the chest.

Body (Value 10)

Chest deep, back rather long, with the body well-ribbed up, and very powerful loins.

Forelegs (Value 10)

Straight and muscular, set on well under the body. The feet compact and moderately round.

Size (Value 5)

From 351b. to 501b.

Coat (Value 20)

Rather profuse, but very hard and weather-resisting.

Colour (Value 5)

A blueish saddle on the back, and tan on the rest of the body is the recognised colour.

General Appearance (Value Fifteen)

A smart, terrier-like, rather leggy dog, which combines strength and activity with a very game look. The tail is always docked, and should be about 7in. in length.