Airdale Terrier

[jrfrmn]

Has anyone owned or hunted with the Airdale. What did you hunt with them and would you rate them as a good versitile  hunter?

[Airedale From NY]

Hello,
I have owned and hunted with Airedales since the 60s and you can guess by the handle I go by how much I think of them. I consider them to be a very versatile breed. I live in central NY state and have hunted them on just about everything here both birds and fur-varmints. They will flush and retrieve birds and are good in the water. I have used mine a lot for Coon hunting over the years. I also have used them on my farm as a general all around farm dog (Pest control, moving livestock). Like any other hunting dog it is best to obtain your dog from breeders of hunting-working lines that test and hunt their dogs.
 
There is tons of info on the web these days about hunting with Airedales if you really want to learn up on them, any specific question you may have I will try to answer it the best I can.

If you are interested I have a wesite listed in my profile that gives a bit of info and has links to pictures of my dogs.

As far as I am concerned a well bred Airedale is about as good as it gets when it comes to an all around dog.

Al

[btmidwest]

Just ran across this post - had an Airedale 10 years ago that had 32 unaided raccoon kills on the property - that I know of.  Deep hatred is an understatement.  I don't know what made that dog tick but I think he would have rather died than let one get away.  While I was at work one day my second oldest son told me Sandy and a big coon fought so hard they laid down and rested a bit.  When the coon got up to leave Sandy finished it.  He would put them in the side yard so I could praise him.  Rough on critters, good with people, good dog.  Had another one who jumped a neighbor friend we were visiting who was spanking their child outside (this was in the old days).  No one got bit but she roared like a lion and it scared them pretty bad; they said they would take the discipline inside next time.  Good dogs.  Great homestead/farm dogs.  BT 

[GatCat]

I have a friend in B.C. that is a guide, he uses an Airdale for Bear hunting. Fairly common up there, and in fact last spring he was helping the owner of a sporting goods shop train his Airdale.
From what I gather, since bear as so common up there, they don't want to use a hound type ( blue-tick, red-bone, etc. ) that will scent a bear, then take off, barking, resulting in a long chase. With the Airdale's ( and others like them ), they drive around, spot the bear, and if they want to go after it, they release the dog, it closes in quietly, then goes after the bear, causing it ( usually ) to get up a tree right away, with no long chase.
Mark