Hunting terrier

[houndsandterriers]

The most famous hunting terrier is the Airedale it originated in England Among the mine-pits of the Aire, the various groups of miners each sought to develop a dog which could outfight and outhunt and outthink the other miner’s dogs. Tests of the first-named virtues were made in inter-mine dog fights. Bit by bit, thus, an active, strong, heroic, compactly graceful and clever dog was evolved – the earliest true form of the Airedale.


He is swift, formidable, graceful, big of brain, an ideal chum and guard. ….To his master he is an adoring pal. To marauders he is a destructive lightning bolt.�

Terrier is unforgiving of any harsh treatment and will hold a grudge against the aggressor. It is said that the Airedale doesn’t start fights — he finishes them. The tail is carried up and adult Airedales should be self-confident, unafraid of people or other dogs.


Their reputation combined with their personable temperament produced a meteoric rise in popularity, and by the early 1920’s, the Airedale was the most popular breed of dog in America. As a consequence, breeders more interested in money than in preservation of proper breed characteristics and standards flooded the continent with dogs of diminishing quality, widely varying sizes and notably inferior temperaments


In colonial times a medium sized dog like this was critical to protecting the American coon hounds from dangerous apex predators. Houndsmen would use these dogs to push big game into a tree. This was critical because of the amount of time it takes to raise and train a dog, one aggressive bear that has forgotten he is not at the top of the food chain could set you back years.


When early colonial settlers first started coming west there was to many people to coexist with wolves with out human wolf conflicts. Wolves along with elk in Colorado and bison was hunted to extinction. After the wolves was gone, bears and mountain lions was not being chased up in trees anymore by there natural predator, the wolf. this made the terriers job of agitation very important because hounds are very slow and uncoordinated . The idea is not to kill the large game but rather to agitate by circling until it climbs into a tree. Treeing dangerous apex predators is critical to avoid any killed hounds. At this point the hunter is able to decide if that bear or cat is legal to harvest. It is also interesting to note that a hunting terrier can out move an aggressive bear from every angle.



Another hunting terrier qualified to hunt large and small game is the German Jadgterrier, It is a 20lbs dog that originated in Germany. The German Hunting Terrier Club (Deutscher Jagdterrier-Club) was founded in 1926, and the dog was warmly embraced in part because it.


The Jadgterrier did not become popular in the U.S. until about 1950 for several reasons, not the least of which was that in the U.S. very few people hunt fox to ground. In recent years, with the rise of interest in terrier work in the U.S., new lines of Jagdterriers have been imported to the U.S., but most are used for above-ground use due to their size. For a Jadgterrier to do well working underground in the U.S., it has to be at the absolutely smallest end of the breed standard or even undersized.

Today there are many hunters across the USA adopting this courageous, intelligent breed as a hunt companion because of its versatility in various hunt disciplines and aim to please attitude.

Quote from Ben lilly. "Here lies Crook, a bear and lion dog that helped kill 210 bear and 426 lion since 1914 (n.n. 11 years period), owned by B. V. Lilly …" The Airedale breed was critical to Bens success.

[pegleg]

If you have any like that I'd like to see them. But my experience is good airedales are like good bloodhounds real hard to find anymore. Anyone who has working strains of either should let the world know

[houndsandterriers]

According Glenn Johnson in that book "tracking dog" there is two things that motivate dogs to stick with a track for hours or miles. Food or retrieving instinct. Hounds are motivated by food, they think they are always hungry. The other thing is a retrieving instinct. I seen a youtube clip that illustrates this instinct. It is called "Airedale Terrier schwimmt"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NybO5TTMCY0

This other you tube clip illustrates the dogs locating or tree instinct. It is called "Alba the Airedale Terrier"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8XkRmaMqlc

Unless someone has owned a spitz dog or a terrier, I don't think they realize how much coordination some dogs have and how uncoordinated other dogs are. I seen a 55 pound elkhound out perform a 20 pound jagdterrier in every way from speed to agility and self preservation because of its larger size. I believe the Airedale breed just needs some fine tuning to get back the ability that they once had. I am thinking 55 pounds for a male and 45 pounds for a female. Which is probably the breed standard. I couldn't be more sold on the breed and surely my next dog will be an Airedale.

[david]

Here is a bit of history on the Airedale you might not know. It makes me laugh, so that is why I share it.

On the original Big Game Houndsmen board, the owner hated Airedales so bad that if you mentioned them you would be warned and if you did not heed the warning you would be banned from the board. HAha. Maybe Bruce could have provided some competition for the Donald.

I'm glad you have the freedom to come out of the closet. It's a new day.

[pegleg]

I believe research and open minded education is important. But experience teaches allot also. I think at this point it would be simpler to recreate working examples of some breeds .

[houndsandterriers]

To recreate Americas favorite dog, not fine tune.... I raised a proven working class jagdterrier from a puppy and watched it grapple and play with other dogs in my back yard for years. I socialized it (in the city) with other dogs by taking it to dog parks and leting it run around with strange dogs at a young age out of fear becouse of untrue over aggression crap I read on the internet.
I watched little kids practicly pick it up by the ears one minute, and watched the dog follow them around wanting to be petted the next. A jagdterriers demener is no different than the Airedales from what i see in any youtube clips, its the same dog. Although the Airedale fetches a lot better.
Jagdterriers like people to much to be a guard dog, besides that they are to small for people to take serous. As a hunting dog they have the courage and speed to take on a bear. A jagdterrier is so fast you could not hit it with a shovel if it was standing right next to you, I believe a 45 to 55 pound airedale would be quiker. But of course i will not know until i get one and test it in every way for years in an attempt to give an experianced review.

I have little doubt that if the public finds out what great dogs American dog training houndsmen have, the demand will explode and the quality will diminish AGAIN.

[houndsandterriers]

Check it out the only dog the Mountain lion is looking at is the Airedale. I bet that guy has never had to cough up any money for vet bills. Just like the famous Ben Lilly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqRr9n-yfgU

It is called "mountain lion hunting with hounds" on you tube

[Nolte]

David you are right. Bruce shaking his head at this thread.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[david]

I know. Maybe I was trying to warn Houndsandterriers. I don't think he seems very afraid of Bruce though. Kids these days.

[houndsandterriers]

[david]

Houndsandterriers, I was hoping the little emoticons on Nolte's and my posts would let you know we are kidding with you. I am a huge terrier fan myself just because I have never witnessed a dog with more heart than the little jagdterriers I used to hunt. It was because of them I came to believe in leaving a cat alone if he makes it home to a den. I have never hunted with an Airedale but I have read on them as you have.

Bruce passed away, so I won't be able to give him your message. I don't think he can see your posts, but if he is somehow able to, I am betting he got past his thing with Airedales.

I read your posts with interest, and will be curious to find out if you can find a dog with the hunting edge of old. Good luck in your search.

If you just want a large jagdterrier, I know of the stud you want to breed to. He is papered, but huge for the breed.

[Nolte]

Yeah David and I were just doing a little kidding. The original site owner had a great appreciation for dry ground lion hounds that worked dirt tracks and wasn't fond very fond of a airedales. They just weren't his flavor, but the site has obviously branched out since then.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[houndsandterriers]

There for a sec I was starting to get fearful, I thought someone was going to come steal one of my dogs, let it out so it got ran over or spray paint my house or something. I should have known better you guys are not vegans.

Anyway according to Wikipedia the Germans had a kennel full of 700 dogs for 10 years trying to create the jagdterrier dog we know today. At some point in history, someone had crossed in running dogs to give terriers more size and longer legs resulting in the smooth fox terrier. The Germans put a lot of time into getting back the original terrier with short legs, or jagdterrier and I think smaller is good for the jagdterrer.

A jagterrier is a summer dog, people might think it can run on top of the snow but that is untrue. hehe You cant hunt it in more than about 4 inches of snow that is why I am thinking about a full size terrier, or Airedale.

[david]

The thought of a jagdterrier's heart in a sixty pound dog is a little frightening. I saw a shirt once that said "I don't know karate but I know crazy". And I thought that would be a good shirt for my little Jagd. I hope you can find some Germans as devoted to restoring the Airedale.

[Cowboyvon]

Yep Bruce and the Airedale... I sat and talked to Bruce one day about his dislike for the Airedale... He told me it wasn't so much the Airedale that he disliked but it was the owners of them.. there was lot of bad history with him and John Henry of coyote gods fame.. and of course John Henry had Airedales and some hounds...

I had a couple of 1/4 Airedales that came from a half Airedale female from John Henry.. I still have one left.. and I've always said that if I could only have 2 dogs those would of been the 2 I would have...

And I also had over 25 Airedales at one time .. registered that I raised for the Caring Heart Foundation.. some from Germany and one 90lb male from South Africa.. double tough and good pets.. not much of a nose for the most part