Red Airedale Terrier
Red Airedale Terrier
Do you remember the first Ford automobiles that were produced? You could have any color you want as long as it was black! Well, many people believe the Airedale Terrier is just black and tan. Actually, there are all-black Airedales ( view my video of a black Airedale( https://www.airedale-terriers-oorang.com/airedale-terriers/black-airedale-terrier.html ) and also red Airedales!
As I said before, having owned three black and tan Airedales I’m partial toward the traditional coloring. But, with that said, and even with the fact that the AKC does not recognize the red or the black Airedale, I don’t see why if someone wants one of these Airedales they shouldn’t have one. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
Plus, I really think the main attraction of the Airedale is not the coloring so much as it is the personality and traits of the breed itself.
Of all the Airedales I saw at this breeders facility, Eric the red Airedale was not only one of the largest Airedales there, he had the standard fun-loving, happy demeanor as is common with all the Airedale terriers. Also, just look at his face in the video, how can you not love this big fun-loving animal?
Red Airedale Terrier
The red Airedale Terrier color runs from a light red/tan to a deeper brownish red.
red Airedale Terrier
So, in my humble opinion, if you love Airedales but want to march to your own beat, perhaps you should definitely investigate the red Airedale!
While I’m expressing my own opinion here, that me express my opinion on the larger (aka Mountain Airedale or Oorang Airedale) Airedales. Having owned both the traditional size Airedale and the larger (My Oakley was 99 Lbs.), I definitely think the larger Airedales are the ideal dog size. The Airedale traits and personalities are the same between the two sizes except if one of your factors is family and home protection, the bark of the larger Airedales Terrier is enough to cause any potential bad person to think twice. Now, should they be aggressive toward you or any of your family members, or break into your home they will soon find out that they made a serious miscalculation that they’ll probably be thinking about for many days as they heal in the hospital!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
During the 1930s, when airedales were farmed like livestock, a few American breeders developed the Oorang Airedale offshoot.
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.
An Airedale’s coat was originally designed to protect the dog from its predators—the coat was designed to come out in the claws of the predator the dog was designed to hunt, leaving the dog unharmed. Because of this, some forms of skin dermatitis can respond to hand stripping the coat. Clipping the coat cuts the dead hair, leaving dead roots within the hair follicles. It is these dead roots which can cause skin irritations. However, hand stripping removes these dead roots from the skin and stimulates new growth.
Due to the breed’s stoic nature, injuries can go unnoticed for a time as the dog will not give obvious signs of pain or distress like whining. For example, the first indication of a cut on the foot might be limping or favoring that foot a few days after the actual injury, so owners should be aware of their pets usual movement to spot irregularities. Excessive licking of a spot may also indicate a problem other than the skin conditions listed above.
Lots of baloney mixed in with some verifiable facts. As it stands, the American Kennel Club does not now nor has it ever accepted solid color in the purebred Airedale Terriers. NO solid colored dogs were known or sold for nearly 100 years, prior to an Arizona couple who came up with two “miracles”, a solid black female in the early 80s imported from Alaska and then a few years later, a solid red. In a review by an AKC judge during a lawsuit, the dogs were dismissed as purebreds and thought to be mixes, poor specimens at that.
Oorang was the name of Walter Lingo’s Kennel. King Oorang was a stud dog that he imported and presented at bench shows. There was never a different strain of Airedale. I have the original Lingo catalogue from 1922. Excessively large dogs have the misnomer of “Oorang: Airedales, which means nothing in terms of genetics or science. It is a convenient marketing gambit, just as breeding the all black or all red dogs.