CHAPTER VI
THE USEFUL AIREDALE
Had there never been a specific need for just such a dog as the Airedale, he would never have existed. He was "manufactured" to meet a distinct want: the need for a big, strong dog, game to the bottom and with a liking for water, who would serve the all-round purpose of pal, guard, poacher, and vermin destroyer. Had the Airedale not filled this bill, he would never have persisted. He would have died out ignominiously, without even winning a local fame.
The Airedale, however, is not only all that his Yorkshire "manufacturers" longed for, but he has shown himself much more. Wider acquaintance with the world has placed him under many different conditions, and he has not very often been weighed and found wanting. He has made his home in all countries from Alaska to India. He has been used for all sorts of game from the grizzly to mice; he has done police duty in France, Germany, and America; he has drawn sleds in the Arctic and driven sheep in Australia—all these things and many others he has done, and in the doing of them he has won a reputation for intelligence, docility, and affectionate disposition that few less talented dogs do not envy. As a writer in the Belgian Breeder, the Brussels journal devoted to horses, dogs, and livestock, has said, he is indeed "le chien le plus utile," which is freely Americanized by the doggy epigram that "an Airedale will do anything any other dog can do and then lick the other dog."
The Airedale is indeed ideally useful, and he is also usefully ideal, for he has size and strength; nobody ever questioned his courage; he is blessed with exceptional brains; and he is obedient, faithful, and affectionate. What more can man ask of a dog? By inheritance he is a thorough sportsman and by instinct a perfect gentleman.
Training, education, and specialization are all familiar terms these days. It is acknowledged that the skilled dwarf is more powerful than the ignorant giant: that the efficiency of the genius is increased many times by proper schooling. So it is with dogs. By nature and by the art of breeding the Airedale has been endowed with gifts fitting him to do whatever a dog may be called upon to do, but proper training will enable him to do it more easily and better.
With a dog of so many talents it is somewhat difficult to decide just the best way in which to take up the different branches of his education, but let us divide his training upon the basis of the Airedale in town and in the country.
I suppose that it is useless to say, for dogs will always be kept in the cities as companions, that a Harlem flat is just about the worst place in the world for an Airedale. Any terrier just cries for room. He is lively as a cricket and as full of spirits as a nut is of kernel—both excellent qualities in any dog outside a flat. The city at best is no place for any dog; no place for terriers of all dogs, and of all terriers, the Airedale! Yet hundreds of dogs live in town, and they serve their purpose. Also, they have a great deal to learn.
House-breaking is the first lesson that has to be taught the city dog. Usually it saves time and money to see that the dog you buy is already so trained, but this cannot always be done. It is a risky business to guarantee a dog house-broken and too much faith must not be placed in any such promises. It often happens that while a dog will always behave perfectly in one house he may have to be trained all over again when introduced into another. This is mainly true of puppies, so you need not consider yourself basely deceived if, in this particular, a youngster does not live strictly up to the word of his seller.
If your dog arrives in a crate, he should be given a run the very first thing after unpacking. The safest way is to bring him into the house on a lead and to keep him tied up short in some convenient place for a couple of days, taking him out regularly at fixed hours. He will soon get into these habits. Should he offend, he ought to be punished at the scene of his crime, taking care that he is aware of his offense and tied up again. A very few days of this treatment will house-break any dog who is old enough to understand what you are driving at. Trying to house-break a very young puppy is cruelty pure and simple.
In punishing a dog, do not beat him about the ears and never use either a fine whip, or a stick. It has happened twice in my knowledge that a dog has had his hearing seriously damaged by a rupturing of the ear drums caused by blows on the head. A whip will cut the skin of a dog and a stick may break a bone. A smart slap under the jaw, accompanied by a word-scolding in a severe tone and uncompromising manner, is a thousand times better. In extreme cases a strap may be used, but always remember that the object is not to flog the dog into cowardly and broken submission, but merely to impress upon him that he is not doing as you wish.