Questions
we are frequently asked
it
must be stressed that the following is "our opinion" it does not
necessarily reflect that of other Airedale Terrier Breeders or of any
other person or organization.
Q.
What are the pros and cons of Airedale Terriers?
A.
Airedales
are a medum sized, strong and boisterious dog, they are
strong willed and can be very determined. They will not do something on
command without seeing a good reason to do so in many cases.
The "cons" or at least some of them are:
- They can be diggers, they love your
garden best of all - after all most
of the hard work is done.
- They can be
barkers, although usually not simply for the sake of
barking but because there is something out of order in their opinion,
which of course, may not be the same as your opinion.
- They can be
very destructive if left to their own devices.
- Airedales
need a significient amount of grooming, on a regular basis to
keep them free of matts and tangles.
- Airedales
are Terriers and display many of the typical terrier traits
although as a rule are more subduded than the smaller terriers.
- They need a
lot of company and often do not accept being left in the backyard
to amuse themselves.
- Airedales
can be difficult to train unless you form a bond and work with your dog. They do not
respond well to heavy handed tactics.
- They can be
very prey driven.
- They need
good socialization with both people and dogs (as well as
other animals) from an early age.
- Airedales,
as with any dog, should not be left alone with young children. A
responsible adult must be actively supervising dog/s and child/ren at
all times.
The "pros"
- The
Airedale is generally in my experience a pretty healthy breed.
- They
have a rather warped sense of humour.
- They
love to join in on family activities and regard themselves as
being a very important member of your family.
- They
have a double coat, do not shed and are often suitable for people
with allergies.
- While
they will need quite a bit of company they will for the most part
happily amuse themselves when required to so as long as you compensate
them with quality time regularly.
- They
make a loyal companion for you and your family.
- As
a rule Airedales are good with children of all ages BUT as with any dog
and child they (both child and dog) must be supervised and taught
to respect each other.
Q.
What are the grooming requirements of a pet Airedale?
A.
Most pet Airedales need to be clipped 2 or 3 times per year. In between
these clips you should comb your Airedale at least once a week with a
steel tooth comb to make sure the coat does not become matted. You need
to trim the hair from between the pads of the feet and the nails need
to be trimmed. - see link below
Clipping
will in many cases cause the coat to become lighter in colour
and softer in texture. This is because the coat is being cut and
leaving dead hair behind. If hand stripping the dead coat is pulled out
totally and this allows a good new coat to grow through which should be
richer in colour and harder in texture.
Show
trimming is another matter all together and unless you are going
to show your Airedale it is unlikely you will find anyone to hand strip
your pet. Hand stripping takes many, many hours of hard work and while
it does not hurt the dog at all, it does involve your dog
learning to tolerate
many hours of having dead hair pulled out. If you wish to learn to hand
strip
speak with your breeder about this.
Basic
grooming tools I suggest for pet grooming are:
1.
2. 
3.
4.
5. 
6.
1.
Comb, steel tooth. 2. Scissors, straight, small
with rounded points for cutting between the pads of the feet and the
ears and thinning scissors. 3. A good stiff bristled brush. I find the
old style floor scrubbing brush good. 4. Mars Coat King (10 or 12
teeth to the inch) is a helpful tool for pet grooming as it will pull
out old dead hair. 5. Plier type nail cutters. 6. Stripping knives
(Mars brand) but many other brands are available.
Trimming
nails:
My
preference with nails is to use a file or a Dremel tye tool. I
purchased a cordless Medallion brand Hobby Engraver kit from Bunnings
for $15.
Look
at this excellent site to show you how to trim nails using a
"Dremel" type grinder.
http://homepages.udayton.edu/~merensjp/doberdawn/index.html
Q. What should
I feed my Airedale?
A.
In my opinion dogs should be
fed a diet that reflects as closely as
possible what they would eat in the wild. It is only relatively
recently (in about the last 40 - 50 years in Australia) that commercial
dry
food has become "the norm" for dogs and
most people feed this purely for convenience.
The
dog does not have the
digestive system to deal properly with
grains. Grains require a much longer digestive system to be fully
processed. Many of the common commercial dry foods are based on grains
not on meat.
Dogs are primarily carnivors and we can see from the tooth shape that
they should eat food which they tear and rip, not grind as is needed
with a cereal based diet.
I
like to feed my dogs a diet
based on Dr. Ian Billinghurst's BARF
(Biologically Approprite Raw Food).
To
me feeding commercial dry food
is like feeding McDonald's or KFC to
my human kids all the time.
Whichever
breeder you purchase your pup from should give you a diet sheet for
your pup. This should be discussed in detail with you and you
should ask as many questions about it as you need to.
Your
puppy should not be fat, you should be able to feel it's ribs
without having to probe under a layer of fat to do so. As a general
rule, I feed my Airedales about 2 to 3% of their body weight from the
time they are about 6 months of age. It
should be noted this relates to feeding a bologically appropriate
diet and if feeding a commercial food then the guidelines will alter.
For a new pup, I would suggest the daily intake of food should be about
10% of it's body weight. If your pup weighs 5 kilogram then it should
be
eating about 500 gram of raw food per day. Of course this should be
spread over 3 or 4 meals and is not a hard and fast rule. The best
guide is to look at and feel your pup and make sure he is well covered
but not fat.
Q.
What health problems do Airedales have?
A.
My experience with
Airedales has been one of few health
problems. I do believe that many health problems such as auto immune
issues and cancer are often either diet or vaccine related. However, as
with
any dog health
issues can arise and if this is the case Veterinary treatment will be
required.
Q.
What vaccination does my Airedale need?
A.
The vaccination protocol I follow is to vaccinate puppies at between 7
and 8 weeks of age with a "C3" (distemper, hepatitis and parvo virus)
and this is followed by another C3 vaccination at 13 weeks.
Approximately 12 months later (ie at 15 to 16 months of age) I have a
booster given. I do not give annual
boosters to my dogs. At the very most I
will give a booster every 3 years.
I
only ever have my dogs vaccinated with C3 vaccinations. There is a
great deal of evidience to show we do not need to give annual boosters.
Even the companies making the vaccines state that this is not required.
I
prefer to keep my puppies until they are 9-10 weeks of age which allows
me to follow the above protocol and ensure there is no ill effect from
the vaccination.
Q. What
about Heartworm preventation?
A. I like to give daily tablets for heartworm preventation. I do
not like the annual injections as this puts a large dose of chemical
into your dog's system. If by chance the dog reacts to the vaccination
there is nothing you can do about it and reactions will continue to
occur as the vaccine is released over the year. An
alternative is the monthly chewable treatments such as Heartguard.
Q.
What hereditary diseases are Airedales affected by?
A.
The main
one I have seen is Hip
Dysplasia .
Any breeder
you are
considering purchasing a pup from should be asked to show you the
result of any testing of the parents of the pups which has been
completed. All breeding stock should be x-rayed and scored under either
the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Hip Score Scheme or the
PennHip Scheme or another recognized and acceptable scheme. In
Australia, at this stage, PennHip is available but
not common, it does have the benefit of compelling the Veterinarian who
does these xrays of sending them to the USA to be scored and compared
against all other Airedales worldwide that have been PennHipped. Not
all Vets are able to do PennHip xrays, to do so they must have
accreditation from the PennHip scheme.
Q.
Can you tell me more about HD?
http://www.acay.com.au/~dissi/sbc/hipdys.htm
Q.
What do you, as the breeder do to avoid the problem?
A.
All of
our breeding stock is xrayed and
scored under the AVA scheme and have below average scores. The breed
average in Australia is 13.4. The possible worst score is 53 for each
hip. It must be noted however, that breeding from dogs who have
excellent scores will NOT guarantee
that the offspring will not have HD as there are many, many
factors that can influence this condition. Environment may be a huge
factor in this problem just as much as genetics. We will always discuss
our dog's hip scores with you and explain what they mean.
Even though a dog may have a hip score that is not acceptable as per
the bred avarage it does not mean that dog will show signs of the
condition. The condition is quite manageable in many cases
without expensive surgery being carried out.
Q.
What should I do before I buy an Airedale?
A.
Contact as many breeders as you can, speak to as many pet owners of
Airedales as you can and ask as many questions as you can think
of. If you are able to attend a Club function or show
it will give you a good idea about Airedales - some trimmed for
the
show ring, some trimmed for comfort, some totally in the rough
and many in between.
You will see young pups and old adults and you will be able to see many
differences between individual dogs.
Read
as much as possible on the breed, both in books and research on the
internet.
You
need to make sure you have the time to devote to a pup. It is
not in my opinion acceptable to buy 2 pups at the same time so
that they will be company for each other. You must put in the hard work
with one before you take on another. I would suggest you wait at least
12 months before buying a second one. We will not sell you two
pups at the same time.
You
need to be prepared to do a certain amount of formal training with
your Airedale pup to ensure he/she becomes a happy well adjusted
and somewhat obedient member of your household.
You
need to ensure your yard is very secure. Airedales are more likely
to dig under a fence than they are to jump over one, however, your
fences need to be suitable to prevent either happening, or indeed
anything coming into your yard from outside.
Q.How do Airedales
get along with
children?
A.
Airedales are a boisterious breed
and an adult Airedale is a reasonable size dog. You need to supervise
your children with all dogs until you know that both dog and child has
learnt how to behave around each other and both are of an age that they
are relaible and can be trusted to treat each other appropriately..
As
a rule Airedales are good with children of all ages but there
must be rules set and stuck to.
Likewise,
and as importantly from my point of view, your child MUST be taught how
to
treat the dog. Particularly when the dog is new to the home and
in most cases a young pup. Children should not be allowed to
carry a young pup as inevitably the pup will be dropped. I
have had early teenagers drop puppies when they have suddenly moved so
even though the child thinks they are old enough they probably are not.
Q.
How much will a puppy cost?
A.
You will find the price varies depending on the breeder and when you
are speaking to various breeders you should ask about this. You do need
to ask what you get
for price and I believe my pups are as well bred and raised as
any other in Australia. We have spend many $'ss on importing both dogs
and frozen semen from leading dogs and kennels in England and America.
If you check on our Whelping Box page
you will see exactly what you get
when you buy a Kingaire
Airedale Terrier.
Q.
I want to buy a show quality puppy, do you have one?
A.
What do you
know about showing dogs?
Do
you know what showing an Airedale involves?
Are
you prepared to learn
how to hand prepare your Airedale?
What
do you think a show dog is?
As
far as buying a show quality puppy
goes, I neither can or will guarantee you will have a puppy that will
develop into a winning dog. I can sell you a puppy which I believe at
about 8 weeks of age, has the potential to develop into a dog good
enough to be shown and to have some success. However, whether this
potential is
realized is something that time and effort (yours) alone will tell.
Teeth may be
incorrectly placed, testicles may not descend, and many other issues
may arise which could affect the dog's performance in the ring or
indeed mean it is not suitable for showing. Not to mention the many
hurdles
that you will find in you way while trying to learn the ropes and train
and groom your dog.
Q. How
much exercise does my Airedale need?
A. As a youngster, the amount and the intensity of exersise
needs to be restricted somewhat. Your young pup should not be allowed
to jump excessively (for example in and out of vehicles, or decking
etc.) You must not take you Airedale for a 5 km run while you jog or
ride a bike. For about he first 12 months or so your dog needs
controlled and unforced exersise. Take it for a 15 to 20 minute walk by
all means and gradually build this up to more. The secret to exercise
until the dog is a year or so is to allow it to go at it's own pace. Do
not force it to walk or run any more that the pup is comfortable doing
so. Young pups will run around like there is no tomorrow but they will
suddenly stop and flop down when they have had enough. This is telling
you to stop for the time being.
As an adult (after about 18 months) you can do more strenuous exercise
if you wish.
Q.
What trainning should my Airedale have?
A. Inital training should start as soon as you get your
new pup or oder dog. Your dog needs to be taught the rules of the
house. Airedales respond exceptionally well to praise and positive
reinforcement training. Socialization is essential. Your young pup
needs to mix - under contolled conditions - with other dogs/animals and
people, both adults and children. They need to learn to go into
different places and hear different noises. Taking you Airedale to
shopping centres, sports grounds, schools and subjecting them to
traffic noise, trains and buses etc. all help to adjust them to
different noises and situations. Remember to praise the pup whenever it
does something positive.
