body and neck. Some refer to the head as
being shaped “like a brick”; having a rect-
angular appearance when viewed from the
front or the side. When viewed from the
side, the top of the head from the occiput
to nose should appear to form a straight
line. The underjaw should be strong and
the muzzle should give a sense of fullness.
The sex of an Airedale should be apparent
from the head; the dog’s clearly masculine
and the bitch’s clearly feminine.
When the dog is alert, the inner edge of
the ear should lie close to the skull, point-
ing toward the ground or outside corner
of the eye. The ear should have lift, and
fold above the top level of the skull. The
Airedale ear is highly mobile, not fixed in
a stationary position. The ear is best evalu-
ated when two dogs face off against each
other, see Figure 2.
Undesired Characteristics
The head of an Airedale should never be
on two planes or angles which will show
the dog to be down-faced. Such a head
viewed from the side shows the nose point-
ing down rather than straight ahead in line
with the back skull. There should be no
prominent bumps on the top of the skull
and no cheekiness seen when the head is
observed from either the side or the front.
There should be no wrinkles on top of the
skull even when the dog is alert or facing
another dog. The head should be elegant,
but the skull should not be so narrow
that the head looks weak, or in the case of
males, unmasculine.
A high or Fox Terrier type of ear which
points toward the middle or inside corner
of the eye is wrong for the Airedale. A fly-
ing ear held away from the head is also
incorrect. Airedales should “use their ears”
when facing other dogs—the ear muscles
should be tense so that the ears react.
Ears that hang relaxed when the dog faces
another are incorrect. Ears with little lift
which break at or below the level of the
skull give the impression of houndiness.
Hound ears are a fault in the Airedale Ter-
rier. See Figure 3.
Part 2
“
Evolution”: The First
Airedale Standard
I
n 1880 Vero Shaw’s grand illustrated
Book of the Dog was published. This is the
first dog book to mention our breed by its
current name, Airedale Terrier. This book
also contained the first written breed stan-
dard. I thought it would be of interest to
many of you to see where we began as a
breed by not only including the standard,
but also the accompanying illustration of
Thunder, the dog “chosen” to represent the
written standard. Please note that Thun-
der was owned by Mr. Reginald Knight,
author of this first standard. When pub-
lished this caused an uproar amongst the
majority of Airedale Breeders who felt Mr.
Knight wrote this standard to fit his dog,
not having bred the dog to the ideas laid
forth by other fellow exhibitors trying to
set the “type” for this evolving breed. This
standard was discounted by the major-
ity of breeders upon publication, and in
response a new standard was crafted an
endorsed by the Kennel Club. It’s funny
to read about the “dog game” being played
between these two groups over 125 years
ago. They sparred as well as the Airedales
they showed. Current-day breeders enjoy
the look back in time to the formation of
our breed and realize that passions ran just
as deep as they do now on what is correct
type for an Airedale Terrier.
The Standard
Head: Flat, and of good width between
the ears. Muzzle: Long, and of good
strength; the nose being black, the nos-
trils large, and the lips free from ‘flews.’
Mouth: Level; teeth large and sound. Eyes:
Small, bright, and dark in colour. Ears:
Thin, and somewhat larger, in proportion
to the size of the dog, that a Fox-terrier’s;
carried forward, like the latter’s, but set
on more towards the side of the head, and
devoid of all long, silky hair. Neck: Strong
rather that neat, and free from dewlap
and throatiness. Shoulders: Well sloped.
Chest: Moderately deep, but not too wide.
Hind quarters Square, and showing a good
development of muscle. Thighs well bent.
Back: Of moderate length, with short
and muscular loins. Ribs: Well sprung and
rounded, affording ample scope for the
action of the lungs. Legs: Straight, and well
furnished with bone. Feet: Round, and
with no tendency to ‘spread.’ Tail: Stout,
and docked from 4" to 7". Coat: Broken
or rough, and close and hard in texture.
Colour: A bluish-grey of various shades,
from the occiput to root of tail; showing
a ‘saddle back’ of same, also a slight indi-
cation on each cheek; rest of body a good
tan, richer on feet, muzzle and ears than
elsewhere. Weight: From 40 to 55 lbs. for
dogs, and from 35 to 50 lbs. for bitches.
Fig. 3. Incorrect – down faced and cheeky.
Fig. 2.
Points for Judging Airedale
Terriers, from 1880
Standard
Head (including eyes) 10
Ears
5
Muzzle & Jaws
5
Body
10
Legs & Feet
5
Coat
10
General Appearance
5
Total
50
218 •
S
how
S
ight
M
agazine
,
N
ovember
2012