As part of our bi-annual survey of Texter pet owners we ask for stories about the dogs. Here is a sampling that gives a great illustration of Airedale personalities.
“Watson” (Chi Chi X Chip 12/05)
Watson has a phenomenal personality, loves being with us always, and has an obsession with water. We can’t water the plants in the back yard without Watson trying to “bite” the water. He would much prefer to drink flowing water out of a hose or that’s being poured versus water in a bowl. He loves taking a shower and just last Sunday he surprised us by jumping into the lake at Atlanta’s Piedmont Park. He was lured in by a duck and obviously couldn’t resist the temptation of taking a swim.
“Frankie” (Chi Chi X Harley 12/04)
Frankie is loving, sweet, a joy to have with us, and the most curious dog we’ve had. He not only checks everything coming into the house or things rearranged, he also opens latches and lever doorknobs and sticks his head into all bags, etc.
“Kane” (Chi Chi X Harley 12/04)
Last Friday Kane and I were driving in Hollywood. He loves to stick his head (and half his body) out the window. The traffic was backed up on Hollywood Blvd in front of the Kodak and the old Groman’s Chinese theatres and there were thousands of tourists on the walk of fame when we entered that area. Kane got up on the windowsill and started to get people’s attention. As he would, he’d offer his paw to people on the sidewalk. He got more attention than any of the fake Hollywood movie characters that are there to entertain the tourists. He’s such a flirt.
Kane plays well with other dogs… even aggressive ones. He’s encountered a few aggressive dogs and has always just shrugged them off or tried to get them to play. Kane has never picked on another dog or instigated a fight. Last month, at the request of one of my clients, I put him in a yard with three other male dogs: a lab, a labradoodle and a Rhodesian ridgeback. The three dogs were obviously a pack with the ridgeback being the alpha. The dogs immediately began to haze Kane, which I think is normal… they were testing him. The ridgeback, however, began to bite Kane’s rear end and for the first time in Kane’s life, I saw him throw the “fight switch”. It was over in about five seconds and the ridgeback submitted. For the rest of the day, the two other dogs played with Kane in the yard while the ridgeback was confined to the porch. If that dog tried to step off the porch, Kane would leave his friends and rush the ridgeback, who would immediately retreat back to the porch. I think he’s strong, but benevolent. We love that.
Kane has a friend named Valor, a yellow lab who belongs to Whenever I work for , Kane and Valor will run a lap around the estate, then jump in the pool and swim a lap, then run a lap, then swim a lap.
Kane has many friends at the homes of the rich and famous. Since he plays well with others, he was asked to play with three beautiful Siberian Huskies. They ran around for hours. When Kane had had enough, he jumped into the fountain and drank from the fountainhead. The other dogs obviously didn’t like the water, so Kane just took his time, cooling off and drinking water until he felt like playing again, then he jumped back out.
Every year for the last 20 years, a group of us (about 50 people) and their dogs go camping in the Sierra, here in California. It’s as much a vacation for the dogs as it is for us. Since we take two weeks of food, our ice chests are over 100 pounds and too inconvenient to carry to our cars at night. We tie a zip line between two trees 75 feet apart and attach Kane with a tether so he can patrol the area. This last year, we had a bear, on six different nights, try to get our food and Kane defended it with all his might. He was amazing! Absolutely fearless. Every night the bear tested him and he went on the offense and kept him out of our camp. The bear went to our friend’s site… “Camp Weinerdog” and ate all their marshmallows and hot cocoa mix. Everyone who had food in the “safe zone” thanked, petted, and hugged Kane for the great job of being our “Night Watchman”. The other dogs – labs, shepherds, beagle and weiner dogs who didn’t make a peep, had to live with their cowardice!
“Raleigh” (Spicey X Ted 4/04)
Raleigh chases squirrels for sport and occasionally the neighborhood is literally overrun. Some squirrels seem to pleasure in sitting on the tree or power line and chirp at Raleigh, which causes him to bark incessantly. One day, I grew a bit tired of listening to the squirrel and the dog and dispatched a small piece of fast moving lead from my pellet gun. The result was fairly disappointing. The squirrel fell to the ground at Raleigh’s feet. Expecting him to pick the squirrel from the ground and shake it (he is a Terrier, right?) you can only imagine my concern when he gently pawed the squirrel’s lifeless body and looked perplexed and a bit sad! Furthermore, after gently stroking it, he carefully and gently picked up the squirrel and carried it away, laying it down between his legs for more stroking. I had assassinated his little friend! I felt bad and disappointed at the same time.
Raleigh’s problem solving skills are not the greatest. I can lay a jerky treat on top of his wire crate and he can neither figure out how to pull it through or simply step out and jump up and reach it from on top. This may be a blessing as he never gets into anything and has only ever destroyed one small window blind.
“Joey” (Dixie X Sarge 12/02)
Joey is great with our 18-month-old son who doesn’t think anything of pulling Joe’s tail, poking his ears/eyes/etc. Joe is incredibly patient and has never snapped. When our son was really small, Joe would pull his socks off his feet and run with them to get attention. It was so funny. He never caught a toe, he was so careful to just get the end of the sock and would pull it really slow and then run away!
“Gus” (Dixie X Sarge 12/02)
Gus is amazing. He always barks at the television if he sees any kind of animal on it. I don’t know how he knows that they are animals! It doesn’t matter if it’s another dog, a monkey, horse, etc. He barks at the television and runs up to it!
“Tucker” (Tango X Sarge 7/01)
Tucker is rough and energetic. He is highly aware of his environment. When there is the slightest change, he investigates. He is vocal and talks, often getting the last word.
“Shadow” (Spicey X Ted 4/04)
He loves for someone to chase him around but always has to have a toy in his mouth and he just prances around with his tail held high.
He’s a riot rooting around in his toy box looking for a certain toy, just like a kid. When my grandkids come they have to keep any stuffed animals of theirs behind closed doors as he thinks they are his to play with.
“Django” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
One of the things he loves is stealing wash cloths from the bathroom or paper left on the table then run like a flash down in the garden and wave at us telling us to come get it and let’s play!! He is such a clown. He gives a lot of pleasure and some good laughs.
“Twister” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
Twister likes to play football with my grandson, Justin. Justin and the football lose – the football goes flat and Justin gets tripped.
“Lizzie” (Chi Chi X Ted 12/06)
She steals everything. I gave her a drawer in the kitchen for her toys. She goes over and opens it up with her paw and takes out what she wants. She turns the water on in the bathtub for a drink of water. She hasn’t figured out how to turn it off!
“Kelsey” (Chi Chi X Ted 12/06)
She is all playful Airedale. She HAS to play with her food before she can eat it. She has a rock collection she thinks are chew toys. Very personable and always ready to play with kids, other dogs, ants, leaves, anything that moves!
“Seamus” (Moonie X Luke 2/07)
Seamus looks very much a gentleman – but is very much a “guy”! One favorite activity is to poke you in the bottom with his nose and then run around the house laughing about it! The hilarity of it never wanes.
“Juno” (Weezer X Q 11/07)
Juno is very affectionate and loyal. Loves to play “hockey” with her food bowl. Retrieves balls and toys well. She gets overly excited and “mouthy” around small children.
“Luc” (Foggy X Luke 1/08)
One funny thing that he does is that at the dog park (and at home too) he’ll bite (play bite, not aggressive) other dogs at the base of their tails to try to entice them to chase him. He knows he’ll be sure to get a reaction. I’ve not seen any other dogs do this. The funniest thing is not so much his doing this, but the other dogs’ reactions. They will just be walking along and then this black and tan blur will go skipping by with a quick nip at the base of their tail and the other dog will spin around like “what the …?” By this time, Luc’s halfway across the park looking back to see who wants to chase him.
Luc has his sherpa bed that he sucks on. We call it his Linus blanket and he drags it all over the house. One day, I took him to PetSmart to pick up some things and we were walking to the register to check out. I got most of the way to the front of the store before I noticed he had one of these beds in his mouth. He had walked by it on the shelf, grabbed it quickly and was bringing it along all without breaking stride or missing a beat. I didn’t even feel him do it. Tricky!
“Luna” (Foggy X Luke 1/08)
She gets along very well with other dogs and people. She is a little joker – she likes to grab socks or other clothing and run around with it even though she knows she can’t play with it.
“Sabre” (Foggy X Luke 1/08)
Sabre has a will of iron: we had to fence in the ponds because we couldn’t keep him from barking at the beached water pump and decorating the backyard with water lilies and other water plants. He has never met a plastic flowerpot that he didn’t like regardless of what was planted in it. He was intrigued with the overhead in the background and ate through the shade cloth walls and brought out all the garden tools as personal trophies. Also squirreled away in the overhead was the lawn mower. He has eaten the pull cord not once but twice.
He is developing a sense of territory and barks at strange cars or items – like the life size deer targets in a neighbor’s yard. At my mother’s house, he cornered a skunk so closely that it couldn’t turn around to spray. I still don’t know how he managed to get away without perfume.
As a final question on our surveys of Texter owners, we ask about the overall satisfaction with their Airedales. The scale runs from one to ten. The 2009 survey results are pretty typical.
No surveys were returned with sevens or lower. One survey was returned with an eight. Of the rest:
-
9 were scored by 10% of the owners.
- 10 was scored by 57% of the owners
- The rest?.......over 30% gave scores over 10 to their dogs, even though it wasn’t a choice on the survey!
We consider these lucky scores for the Texter Airedales to get! It has everything to do with our apparent knack of finding the “right” homes for the dogs! Hopefully, great homes like these will continue to be found for futures Texter pups!
Training Stories
As part of our bi-annual survey of Texter owners, we ask for feed back on training issues and successes. Below is a sampling of responses to give an idea of the varied, mischievious, and often humorous Airedale experiences.
“Shadow” (Spicey X Ted 4/04)
Shadow is a high energy dog with a very mischievous personality. He is very loving and adorable and when he looks at me with those big brown eyes I melt. He’s a joy!
Shadow has a terrific sense of humor, very gentle with my great granddaughter. She can even take away his bone and food and he lets her. He’s a bit of a show-off and prances around the house with his big white bone in his mouth.
“Joey” (Dixie X Sarge 12/02)
He’s so good natured. No behavior problems! Learns so quick. Remembers all commands… smartest pet we’ve ever had! And such a sense of humor!
“Mack” (Gunnie X Matthew 6/02)
He rules the roost (if allowed).
He has full roam of the house, but he has never been destructive. He is loyal to the point of almost being overly jealous and protective. To say we love this animal would be an understatement. We could never thank you enough.
“Waldo” (Alice X Chip 6/04)
Chews anything he can get to including: outdoor furniture, pulling lamps & breaking it, cordless phones… Fortunately he has survived!
“Gracie” (Gunnie X Chip 4/04)
Gracie is an adolescent… she is strong willed and a major chewer. She comes up to us and nips… not to be mean, just to see if she can get away with it. It’s like having a teenager. She has a funny personality…
“Chloe” (Spicey X Ted 4/04)
She is a bit energetic, but that is why we love the Airedale is it not?!
Chloe is entertaining, spunky, gets along well with all dogs and people. She eats everything and wants to answer the survey herself. She does great in obedience training – she’s graduated from three programs and is starting again this summer in the next program. The only health problem we’ve had came from her stealing the sponge from out of the sink!
“George” (Tango X Sarge 7/01)
He loves our daughter more than he loves Patty or me.
He went through beginning and intermediate obedience training. Only problem – he steals food whenever and wherever he can.
“Lily” (Breeze X Lance 4/06)
She is still chasing our cat non-stop and we’ve had a very difficult time breaking her of this. She is a very, very sweet dog. Much sweeter than Gus. She loves attention, to be petted, and snuggling!
“Walker” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
Walker leaps into the air after his toys and will play catch for as long as you can throw his toys! He is always alert and aware of what I am doing and very curious – almost like a cat in that way.
“Buzz” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
Very smart – sits, stays, downs and heels, jogs but still likes to chase family cat!
Always positive, wants to play, loves his toys, likes other animals except a little obsessed with cats, likes to watch them out the window or wait and try and chase; very easy going otherwise, likes to please, very observant – after planting peas will try and dig up.
“Django” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
Last October, while we were overseas, he was at a trainer. She did a wonderful job, alas we let it slip and he takes full advantage of it. One thing we have trouble with is that he steals everything in his reach, which is quite a range! It can be a piece of paper, spoon, knife, sponge, a shoe, etc… The house has never been so empty of clutter. Every thing is behind closed doors and in boxes. I am always amazed how he knows immediately when we forgot to put something out of his reach. He parades it right in front of us with this gleam in his eyes that says: Got ya!! He runs around the table, between furniture, up and down stairs, inviting us to chase him. When we ignore his invitation, he’ll come and offer his “treasure” to us. We found out that a spray bottle will stop him from stealing or at least to drop his “trophy” immediately, and lately his forays have become less and less.
“Tanner” (Junie B X Luke 2/06)
He won’t stop jumping on the counters and eating all our food. He is very playful and drags my son around on the floor with his leash. He is very humanistic in his expressions (yawning, covering eyes with his paws).
“Zoey” (Chi Chi X Chip 12/05)
She has been VERY easy to train and quickly learned to do everything she needs to be a good citizen and safe in the world. I’d have to dig deep to find ANYTHING to complain about… Well, OK. About this appetite for plastic: my jacket zipper, the laces toggle on my sandals, the rim of the pan holding my boots (but not my boots), the buckles on my backpack, the box holding the med supplies (but nothing inside), and she does it while lying on top of a legitimate chew! I’ve been driving along, hear this noise and look over my shoulder to see her working away on her latest victim. “Zoey!” “What?” It’s that little bit of spice that reminds me she is still a kid and has her own ‘thing’.
“Gracie” (Gunnie X Luke 5/05)
Beginning and intermediate obedience – blue ribbons
Our biggest problem with Gracie is her getting on the kitchen counters. She is always hungry. I usually remember not to have food within her reach. However, last week she pulled off a casserole – what a mess!
The place we board her offers training. We were successful in implementing the command “go to your place” that she learned while boarding. It has been great to keep her out of the way when we’re busy. It’s harder to keep her in her place when the doorbell rings.
“Frankie” (Chi Chi X Harley 12/04)
He is reliable and accurate on all basic commands. Although there is a problem with a consistent recall when squirrels are around and a problem with resisting barking at critters. Frankie is loving, sweet, a joy to have with us, and the most curious dog we’ve ever had. He not only checks everything coming into the house or things rearranged, he also opens latches and lever doorknobs, and sticks his nose into all bags, etc.
“Kane” (Chi Chi X Harley 12/04)
Kane is an extremely happy and cheerful dog. When he is scolded, he sits down and offers his paw as if he wants a truce. If he’s gotten into something he KNOWS he shouldn’t have (like the trash), he’ll sit down and offer his paw even in advance of his scolding, totally giving himself away.
He’s also OBSESSIVE about his toys. I can’t find a toy he can’t destroy, even KONG or those marked indestructible.
We can’t find any behavior problems with this dog. He’ll eat anything that’s mistakenly left out… but that’s normal and I’m not sure he can be trained to ignore food. He seems absolutely willing to endure any scolding, time-out in his crate, or being sent to bed without supper to get into trash when we’re not looking. He’s just calculated that a morsel of chicken is worth any punishment.
Kane has been taught to sit, stay, lie down, roll over and come. He also gives “high fives”, shakes hands, and heels well on a leash. The only training difficulty has been in trying to get him NOT to pee on personal property. I took him to an “Off-Leash” beach where he peed on someone’s leather jacket lying on their beach blanket. He’ll sometimes pee on my tool bag for which I’ll smack him (only while in action) and he just looks at me like, “What? It’s what I do!”
Kane is a great dog. He’s a wonderful balance of loyalty and stubbornness. He swims with the labs, tracks with the hounds, spars with any dog and outsmarts them all. He is extremely friendly and a little over-exuberant but absolutely wonderful with kids (since they always drop food). He’s ferocious when defending our house against other dogs in the neighborhood but would welcome a burglar like he’s one of the family!
Anonymous (Chi Chi X Harley 12/04)
Has a mind of her own – kind of like my wife! Cutest thing ever. Groomers and vets love her.
She is great on the leash and around the home. No problems training her, but on occasion she will demonstrate a mind of her own and some stubborn tendency – like my wife!
“Rufus” (Alice X Chip 6/04)
Rufus is our third Airedale and we feel like he is by far the best. He is extremely affectionate, lots of fun, and pretty well behaved considering he has had no obedience training. His favorite activity is playing ball and his favorite catch is on the fly. He also loves it when we try to hide his ball and always seems to find it right away. He sits around watching us with his ball in his mouth!
We’ll never have to worry about being attacked by squirrels, raccoons, rabbits or turkey vultures. They all bring Rufus to high alert. People are greeted by silence and profuse tail wagging. A bit of a slob, but that may just be a guy thing. Ball fetching and chasing is the most important part of each day, second most important is riding in the truck (inside) to get the paper each day. Opportunity to bark at our cows, donkeys, and deer. The big hurdle was first year toilet training. Once he got that down pat, he’s never made a mistake. Sit and come are the most important and he’s got both mastered. Probably our most entertaining dog ever.
“Ruby” (Gunnie X George 1/03)
She definitely is hard headed. We have had the most problems in getting her to come to us if she gets out of the fence. She is far more interested in everything else out there than us. She is very smart and is a great fetcher, catcher and waiter (for food). Loves to play basketball and with the penlight.
“Izzie” (Tango X Sarge 7/01)
She does come when we call her… this is particularly good when she sees a moose in our yard when going out to do her business.
“Rowdy (Dixie X Sarge 7/01)
Rowdy is a very smart dog. At the kennel where we occasionally board him, they have to padlock his run. If they don’t, when they come in in the morning they find Rowdy running around loose in the kennel. Sometimes he even lets other dogs loose with him! The amazing thing about that was that the other dogs were females and, of course, Rowdy has been neutered.
“Fritz” (Gunnie X Chip 4/04)
I have done all the training since he was a pup. I have always kept my voice low and when I go to a whisper he really gets attentive. He picks up things after once or twice. He has many toys and you can ask him to get a certain one and he will bring you the right one.
“Heidi” (Spicey X Ted 4/04)
She is very quick to learn. She is always happy and a stinker getting into things but she is a pleasure to have.
“Stella” (Chi Chi X Ted 12/06)
Stella is really a fabulous dog. She has eaten the cushions on an antique chair in the living room (chewing is a problem that we are working on) but that is probably our lack of supervision and anyway I wanted to recover those chairs.
“Kelsey” (Chi Chi X Ted 12/06)
I have been lazy about consistent training and as a result she is mindful when it suits her (typical Airedale – smart and independent). She is very social with a great temperament. Overall the best Airedale I have ever had.
“Seamus” (Moonie X Luke 2/07)
Passes obedience classes with ease – often winning in-class competitions. On a last minute whim of mine, passed CGC with ease. I am confident he could learn to sing the National Anthem for enough salmon bits! Cannot be taught not to dig a hole.
Anonymous (Moonie X Luke 2/07)
Loves all dogs and people, very social. Makes yawning noises in the morning to get us out of bed. Barks incessantly at squirrels (actually caught one!). Loves to jump in my lap and roll over. I’d get another Airedale, but my wife said I’d have to get different wife… difficult choice as I’ve told her.
“Emma” (Moonie X Luke 2/07)
Emma is a delight! She loves to chase balls and play. Her only issue is also loving to chew shoes… but what dog doesn’t? I consider it more a human issue – not putting away the shoes.
“Juno” (Weezer X Q 11/07)
We sent her to obedience school and she’s very obedient now, though a bit headstrong. Her only vice is a passion for hoses of any type – garden, gas lines, etc.
“Sabre” (Foggy X Luke 1/08)
Sabre is a fun puppy but highly exasperating. From day one, I have never met a puppy so self-confident and unable to understand that the “No” he heard was directed at him. He has had private lessons and small group lessons. The trainer declared him brilliant and capable of being a nationally ranked Airedale. I agreed that he is very sharp but he was trained with treats. He considers his training as a contract – no goodie, no performance. He needs more work.
