Airedale Terrier

From the history of the breed: Airedale is the name of the valley in the West Riding of Yorkshire, situated between the rivers of Ayr and Worth, and it is the birthplace of the breed Airedale. In the middle of the XIX century, the workers bred the dog with the help of tough  crossing rough-woolen old English black and tan terrier and Ginger terrier (now      known as velsh terrier) with Otterhound. In 1886, the National club of the fans of  dogs officially registered the breed of Airedale. The country of origin: United Kingdom.

General appearance:
Airedale - is the largest from the terriers, muscular, active, fairly stocky dog, without a hint on too high limbs or an excessive length of the body.

Height and the weight:
The height for males is 58-61 cm, for females - 56-59 cm. Measured from the top point of the shoulder blade. The weight: 20-25 kg.

Coat:
Tough, dense and wiry, not too long to appear a shaggy. Evenly and tight fitting, covering the body and the limbs, the outer coat is rough, wiry, stiff, the undercoat is shorter and softer. The tightest coat with a break or just slightly wavy, curly or soft shirt is extremely undesirable.

Color:
A saddle on the body of a black or gray color, as well as the top of the neck and the upper surface of the tail. All other places are reddish-brown. The ears are often darker reddish-brown, but shading can occur around the neck and the sides of the skull. A few white hairs between the forelimbs are acceptable.

Head:
The skull is long and flat, not too wide between the ears and narrowing slightly to the eyes. The head is well balanced, with no apparent difference in length between the skull and the muzzle. Without wrinkles, with a barely noticeable transition from the forehead to the muzzle. The cheekbones are flat, not prominent. The muzzle is bulk, well filled under the eyes. Not turned up, without a sharp downcast, but a slight inclination from the eyes towards the nose eliminates the impression of wedge form and simplicity. The upper and lower jaws are powerful, deep, strong and muscular, as a powerful muzzle is very desirable. There should be no redevelopment of jaws, high cheekbones and generating fleshiness, so as "high cheekbones" are undesirable. The lips are tightly closed, the lobe of the nose is black.


Ears:
Hanging on the cartilage, triangular, are kept on the sides, small, but proportionate to the height of dog. The upper line of the fold of the ear is slightly above the level of the skull. Hanging ears or ears set too high are undesirable.

Eyes:
Dark-colored, small, not prominent, full of terrier's expression, insight and intelligence. Light or protruding eyes are highly undesirable.

Neck:
Lean and muscular, medium in length and of a moderate thickness, gradually widening to the shoulders, deprived of throatiness.

Teeth:
The upper and lower jaws are deep, powerful, healthy and strong as a fortress the muzzle is highly desirable. Without excessive development of jaws, which imparts to the cheekbones a rounded or convex shape, so as the high cheekbones are undesirable. The teeth are healthy. A scissor bite, when the upper teeth are closely overlapping the lower teeth and set in square to the jaws is preferable, but pincer bite is tolerated. Overshot or undershot bite is undesirable.

Body:
The top line is short, strong and smooth, without hangs. The loin is muscular. The chest is deep to the elbows, but not broad. The ribs are fairly prominent. In short dog with a good distance between the rib cage and rib part of the thigh is small. If the dog is long in the waist, the weakness of the top line will be visible.

Chest:
Deep (i.e. approximately up to the  elbows) but not broad. The ribs are well arched.

Tail:
Highly set, carried gaily, not curled over the back. A strong and solid. Usually is shortly cut. The tip of the tail is at approximately the same height as the nape.

Limbs (front and hind):
The front limbs.
The shoulder blades are long, laid back well, with a smooth slope, flat. The forearms and the pasterns are perfectly straight, bony. The elbows do not bulging, move freely along the body.
The hind limbs. The femur and tibia are long, strong and muscular. The angles of the knee joints are well developed, without turning inward or outward. Metatarsals are short. When viewed from behind are parallel to each other.

Attractive features:
Very expressive, quick in its movements. Nothing will escape from its watchful attention. The character appears in its glance, posture of ears and tail. Confident and friendly, brave and smart, always on guard, is not aggressive but fearless.