Arizona Mountain Airedale Terriers

Tova is a 14 week old Arizona Mountain Airedale Terrier. Her housemate is Teddy who is also a larger Airedale Terrier.

When Teddy first came to San Diego we had Annie who had just given birth to nine puppies about five months before Teddy arrived. Annie and Teddy were inseparable, and when we moved from San Diego to Arizona in November 2020 they were both exceedingly happy in their new house and their new big backyard.

Arizona Mountain Airedale Terriers

Teddy & Tova – Arizona Mountain Airedale Terriers

Unfortunately just a few months later, Annie who was just about 6 1/2 years old, passed away unexpectedly. Teddy, was totally devastated and kept looking for throughout the house garage and backyard for her. To try and snap Teddy out of his depression, we took him out quite often to the local dog parks and naturally on many trail walks.

Teddy gradually improved, but we knew we needed another Airedale to bring him back to his happy-go-lucky self. So, we got Tova from Colorado when she was eight weeks old. Luckily, Teddy was delighted to have her as a housemate and to share in all our Arizona adventures.

Now, at 22 weeks old, Tova weighs in at 47.2 pounds! Yes, she’s going to be a big gal! Teddy is much more laid-back than Tova, but otherwise they have the standard happy, inquisitive Airedale personality.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Capt. Walter Lingo, of LaRue, Ohio, developed the Oorang Airedale strain. The name came from a line of bench champions, headed by King Oorang 11, a dog which was said to have been the finest utility dog. King could retrieve waterfowl and upland game, tree raccoons, drive cattle and sheep, and bay mountain lions, bears, and wolves. King even fought one of the best fighting bull terriers, and killed his opponent. He also trained in Red Cross work, and served the American Expeditionary Force at the front in France.

Lingo simply wasn’t satisfied with the average strain of Airedale, and after an incredible series of breedings, for which he brought in great Airedales from all over the world, he created the “King Oorang.” At the time, Field and Stream magazine called it, “the greatest utility dog in the history of the world.” The Oorang Kennel Company continued until Walter Lingo’s death in 1969. To help promote the King Oorang, as well as his kennels, Lingo created the Oorang Indians football team headed up by Jim Thorpe. The team played in National Football League from 1922–1923. Jerry Siebert, an Airedale breeder in Buckeye Lake, Ohio, followed in Lingo’s footsteps, and bred “Jerang Airedales.” There is a kennel in Tennessee that claims to have original Oorang Airedales.

After the First World War, the Airedales’ popularity rapidly increased thanks to stories of their bravery on the battlefield and also because Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Warren Harding owned Airedales. President Harding’s Airedale, Laddie Boy, was the “first celebrity White House pet”.  President Harding had a special chair hand carved for him to sit on at very important Cabinet meetings. In the 1920s, the Airedale became the most popular breed in the USA.

President Roosevelt claimed that “An Airedale can do anything any other dog can do and then lick the other dog, if he has to.”

1949 marked the peak of the Airedales’ popularity in the USA, ranked 20th out of 110 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club.

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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.”

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