Airedale, opinions

sbcvulcan

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#1
My wheaton mix just recently had to be put to sleep. I am not ready yet for another dog, I still have another young terrier mix at home. However i am intersted in getting another Terrier type mix or purebreed as a rescue pet and am leaning towards the larger terrier breeds such as an Airedale. I know they need stimulation exercise and like my Weaton Cross are smart and sassy and need an alpha or else I will be their pet! Has anyone had one and have any opinions?

Ask any questions about my lifestyle and what i can offer to the dog and i will reply if that can help you make recommendations to me. Thanks!
 

bubbatd

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#2
Sorry about your Wheaty !! I've only known 2 airedales...same family. Very aggressive , and a handful. Could have been the family. Hope you'll get better info here.
 
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#3
I am so sorry about your Wheaten. It's so terribly difficult to let go of them. How is your other Terrier dealing with the loss? They grieve too.

You sound like you've got a good handle on the Terrier brain. One of our neighbors in Wilmington had an Airedale, Jeff, and we loved him. It was a quiet neighborhood so they'd let Jeff out to play for a bit after school hours because he loved to play games with the kids. He didn't let adults touch him unless he knew them very well, but he was a gentle clown with the little kids. Actually, we all kind of treated Jeff like one of the kids, lol!

Airedales, like any Terrier, need plenty of exercise - physical and mental, and LOTS of socialization with people and other dogs.

Martine should be able to give you good first hand advice. Her Airedale, Misha is (if I'm remembering right) a rescue.
 

sbcvulcan

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#4
Thank you for your condolences. Rudy had mast cell cancer that we thought we had beat but it had sadly spread. She was 10 and i had gotten her at a local pound at 4 months. It has been very difficult without her as I love her so very much. Scoop, my young guy, actually was very overshadowed by Rudy's clever dominance so he is now getting used to the fact that he has free run of the house and complete access to me. He is coming into his own!

I have by habit always provided the dogs with lots of exercise, off leash running in the woods and lots of socialization. I think this would be good for an Airedale type. Since i am a female and in the woods alone it would also be good to be with a more protective sizeable dog as i think the Airedale may be.

all of your input is very helpful.
 
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#6
Since you are alone and are willing to work with a dog and socialize it well, you might even want to consider a more formidable dog. The world has turned into a much less friendly place than it was even just ten or fifteen years ago - especially for a woman.

As quiet as this place is, there has been more than one occasion when I've been glad I took at least one of the dogs with me when I went somewhere alone at night!

I will say that one of the more outstanding and protective dogs I've ever seen was Thor, who belonged to a biker friend of mine. He was supposed to be a purebred Doberman, but as he matured, his head was a bit too blocky, and then his adult coat started coming in . . . curly. Thor was a Dober-Dale! He was a great dog. I loved him. The only people he paid any attention to were Dave, his owner, and me. Dave's girlfriend used to get so frustrated with Thor.
 

Baileys

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My grandfather bred and raised Airedales. From what I remember about them, they were very protective, very aggressive, and very mule headed. I remember he had to put more than a few down because they "turned cross" as he used to say, which I guess, was his way of saying they became overly aggressive and mean. They were very loyal dogs from what I can remember, and he kept 2 of them loose on the farm as protection, but they don't like chickens and cats. I guess that depends on if they are raised to respect them or not, but I know we went thru quite a few chickens and barn cats when he had them loose lol.

I'm terribly sorry for your loss, and I hope that whatever breed you choose (or rather, chooses you :)~ ), you enjoy as much as your last one.
 

GSDFan05

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Airedales can be good dogs, but they definitely need a 'serious' owner. Consider that you're taking all that terrier personality, drive, and hard-headedness and putting it into a pretty good-sized dog, a small terrier is a handful, and Airedales require a lot of work. They CAN be good dogs, just keep in mind what comes as part of the package.
 

sbcvulcan

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Interesting comments and as i research the Airedale i am beginning to feel I need a dog a little less head strong, a dog able to be trusted in the yard without a fence and although active not always into something. My terrier cross was very smart and sometimes fresh .She was able to hang out in a relaxed mode as well as be very active and playful. A perfect mix for me!

I think your comments have confirmed my intuition about this breed.I love terriers and most of the pure breed ones are smaller and i would like a 50-65 lb dog. Perhaps i can find a terrier cross that is mixed with a larger breed. Never know who the parents are with those mutts!

Thank you so much.
 
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#10
Oddly enough, a rescued adult German Shepherd can make a wonderful addition to a Terrier household. We added a Shepherd to the family when Mickey - my Terrier - was about seven or so. Purdue came as a gift from my Nanny as a three month old pup, which put him at a slight disadvantage. He was three years old before he realized he didn't have to jump every time Mickey told him to, lol! They made a good pair though. His German Shepherd level-headedness countered her Terrier temper well and they were quite the pair.

My sister's husband has a Jack Russell and she rescued an adult female German Shepherd when Braec was about two and a half. Braec had had some issues with a couple of her step-kids (understandable, considering some of the idiotic things the kids did and bearing in mind that their mother had abused him as a pup), but Obie, the German Shepherd, keeps Braec in line and won't let him be alone with the kids. It irritated Braec a bit at first, but now he adores Obie and seems to appreciate the fact that Obie's interference keeps him from being aggravated.

It's really something I'd encourage you to consider. Terriers and German Shepherds can really complement each other quite well, and most GSDs are easily boundary trained.
 
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#11
sbcvulcan said:
Interesting comments and as i research the Airedale i am beginning to feel I need a dog a little less head strong, a dog able to be trusted in the yard without a fence and although active not always into something. My terrier cross was very smart and sometimes fresh .She was able to hang out in a relaxed mode as well as be very active and playful. A perfect mix for me!

I think your comments have confirmed my intuition about this breed.I love terriers and most of the pure breed ones are smaller and i would like a 50-65 lb dog. Perhaps i can find a terrier cross that is mixed with a larger breed. Never know who the parents are with those mutts!

Thank you so much.
Terrier mixes can be wonderful. I had a terrier/husky (best guess) mix who was about 45lbs. She has the coat and tail of a husky, the head and soul of a terrier. 100% yardsafe (would regularly 'escape' and walk around to the front door to wait for her disappearance to be noted) Beautiful dog, smart and incredibly reliable once she agreed to something. It was reaching that agreement that could take some time. My current sheepdog will absolutely agree to everything you ask/tell, then immediately renege. I thought the husky took some of the combative edge from the terrier - she didn't leap to conclusions as fast as the terriers I know - and the terrier added some faithfulness to the husky. I felt the husky added some aloofness, too, though, which was tough on an owner used to the exuberant love of a collie. Once she accepted me, though, we had an extremely good relationship.
 

Amstaffer

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#12
I haven't been around a lot of Airedales but I had a nieghbor who had two and they barked A LOT and were very dog aggressive. However most of this was poor socialization and not enough exercise...IMHO.

If you like Terriers, especially large ones, check out the American Staffordshire Terriers. They don't bark much and are mellower than Airedales. They are wonderful pets I highly recomend Amstaffs.

I am really sorry about your little wheaton, it is a really tough time for you I know.
 
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Amstaffer said:
If you like Terriers, especially large ones, check out the American Staffordshire Terriers. They don't bark much and are mellower than Airedales. They are wonderful pets I highly recomend Amstaffs.
Just a question, I'm not impugning the nobility of pit bulls and their kin - would they be what the OP is looking for? I mean, AmStaffs, while in the terrier group, have more of that bulldog thing going. You don't see (thank God) too many AmStaffs with that high-alert terrier attitude. (hence your comment about them being more mellow.)
 

sbcvulcan

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#14
Oh i should clarify, oops, before we discuss for me options of the short haired terrier breeds, I love shaggy faced scruffy bearded terriers, very addicted. My Scoop is so black that pictures never do him any justice, thus have not posted one yet, but he is a scruffy faced terrier cross and of course my wheaton mix was scruffy too.

In fact i seem to be a bit allergic to the very short haired dogs, could be the dander ,sort of that shine oil on their coat, but i tend to do better with hairier dogs?!
 

Amstaffer

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#15
casablanca1 said:
Just a question, I'm not impugning the nobility of pit bulls and their kin - would they be what the OP is looking for? I mean, AmStaffs, while in the terrier group, have more of that bulldog thing going. You don't see (thank God) too many AmStaffs with that high-alert terrier attitude. (hence your comment about them being more mellow.)
Personality wise I didn't see anything in the OP that would exclude Amstaffs but in the latest post I do see some requirements that the Amstaff can't meet...They don't grow beards...lol and they do have very short hair.

Oh well, personality wise they would work ;)

How about a Kerry Terrier? Not as big but they are a mid to large terrier and are somewhat easier to handle than an Airedale.
 

siemens716

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i saw a few Airdales at my uncle's friend's place, Iloved them. Beautiful and large dogs. Buit their owner seems to have mixed emotions. She said they were very stubborn and troublesome. They had a huge yard and there were alot of holes dug...
 

Martine

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#17
I've been slow to pick up this post, more guests visiting.......

I'm basing this on Misha and all I've learnt from the Airedale group I'm a member of. I'd say protective not aggressive....but I can see why people would think that - they do want to interactive with every dog they see and just throw themselves at other dogs..Misha thinks every dog, cat and ant should be ready to play.

...they like to show their teeth a lot which scares some people - they snap them together when impatient, bored or just for their own private amusement. But I've never heard of one biting intentionally or being aggressive and I've seen a few people asking that, but I guess a bad owner could fix that :(.

They are pretty aloof with people they don't know, (irrates some people), but very loyal and loving to their owners. I've had many clashes of wills with Misha, as some of my posts show. But I'm as stubborn as her and it is starting to pay off - but you definitely need to match their strong character - or they will walk all over you (quite literally).

I've read some bark a lot, but equally many don't - so I think that is up to individual dog. Misha just barks at the door bell - and scares herself - but it is a good warning to strangers.

They are big diggers & apparently chewers - although Misha won't chew anything that hasn't been given to her - we are very lucky.

She has been very easy to train in that she learns quickly, but can be stubborn as anything. She is highly food motivated and too smart to admit that praise will do! This very short article sums it up :) -http://www.airedaleterriers.org/articles/sit.html

Have to finish this Aire essay by admitting that I doubt I will be without an Airedale from now on - I am a complete Airehead! :D
 

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