Trimming the Old Airedale

Whew!!! Summer is here. Had to wash and trim my Airedale today after a long winter. She is really good at the whole thing but she sure does grow a thick coat over winter. Got a whole box of hair!! Told the wife too bad she could not spin it into a shirt or something. LOL Would be as warm as wool!! She is a great old girl she won't let me do anything with out her and is the undisputed Sargent of Arms at the house. She don't let any stray dogs, Gorillas, Zombies or any other perceived threats in the yard. Unless its a kid who wants to play or pet her. Hope those dang kids don't get violent. LOL

Great dogs!

I want one

True about every airedale I've ever known.

You know at one time they were the most popular dog in America. They were President Teddy Roosevelt's favorite dog. He once said "An Airedale can do anything any other hunting dog can do and then whip that dog at the end of the hunt."

Bruce Rhodes (K9) set me up with an Airedale 12 or so years ago, she is the best/smartest dog i've ever had. I've coon hunted with her, she helps me trap coyotes/cats, etc... It will be a sad day when she dies, and i'm not looking forward to it.

Heck she even got taken/stolen at one point by an Animal rescue group, that turned into a crap show but I eventually got her back.

Sounds awful. Mind sharing?

We have the 20 lb version....Welsh Terrier...Sophie

Here is a log I made of the events for the prosecutors. I am not blame free in this deal, I should have had a collar/name tag on her. I don't know why she went down by the highway that day, she never does that ever. Looking back I am surprised I didn't get thrown in jail over this, I was pretty crappy to them after I knew they had her and wouldn't give her back. LOL Anyway here it is.

Background. Jazz is a spayed Airedale Terrier that I have owned for aprox. 6 years. I was given her by Bruce Rhoades of Brooklyn Iowa. Jazz is my farm dog, and I allow her to have the run of my farm for the fact that we raise many different kinds of fowl, and Jazz keeps the coyotes away. I do not keep a collar on Jazz as she doesn't generally leave my property, and I didn't want her o get hung up in a fence with a collar on.

Last Sunday afternoon 10/12/2014 at around 5 pm I noticed that Jazz wasn't following me to help me do chores which struck me as odd. I have an 80 acre farm, that has CRP, pasture and a timber on it. I figured that she was probably off exploring on my property and would show up later.

Monday morning came, still no Jazz I leave for work at aprox 6;45 each day. Usually I see Jazz as I go to my truck to leave, I generally give her a belly rub at that time. By this time I knew something was wrong. As time allowed me at work I would call every local vet, humane society, and rescue group that I could think of. At this time I also called Hearts United for Animals in Auburn Nebraska to see if they had her. The lady that I talked to whom I believe was co-founder Carol Wheeler told me that they had not taken an Airedale in, I thanked her and gave her my contact information in case Jazz showed up.

I also started posting on various Facebook walls trying to find her.

As soon as I got home Monday evening I did my farm chores, and then started searching for Jazz. I drove the rock road ditches, and the hwy ditches on my 4 wheeler thinking that maybe she had gotten hit by a car. I didn't see any sign of her.

On Tuesday 10/14/2014 still no sign of Jazz as I left for work. I worked the day, and after work I left to head to Nebraska City with my wife and daughter to watch my son Hunter play Jr. High Football. I returned home around 8:30pm, did my farm chores then I grabbed a flashlight and spent an hour or so looking around the windbreaks and sheds in my farmyard for her. I thought that maybe she had gotten sick and went to a quiet place to die. I did not find any sign of her.

Wednesday 10/15/2014 I received a phone call from a lady in Pawnee City who is a RN at the local hospital, she relayed to me that she had relation visiting from Arizona. On Sunday they saw an Airedale on the Hwy at the Hwy 8/50 intersection at aprox. 1:00pm. They noticed that a light colored Buick Century had a man that was trying to call her off the Hwy.

After receiving this information I made lost posters for Jazz, and my wife, kids, and I began to distribute them around to various towns.

Thursday was uneventful in the hunt for Jazz, that was until 3:00pm. I had left work to run to the bank to cash some money orders. My phone rang, it was a lady from Dawson Nebraska. She had seen my Facebook post, and called to tell me to check Hearts United in Auburn. She went on to tell me that she had volunteered there on Sunday 10/12/2014, while she was working she overheard some other volunteers talking about a beautiful Airedale that had just been brought in. I told her that I had called up there on Monday 10/13/14 to check, and was told that they didn't have an Airedale come in. She seemed puzzled by this, and was positive that she had heard correctly.

Upon my return to work I called Hearts United, no one would answer the phone. So I jumped into my truck and drove up there. When I got there I first approached a woman whom I recognized as Carol Wheeler. I asked her if they had an Airedale turned in, she said no. I then told her of the volunteer that had overheard that an Airedale had come in on Sunday the 12th. She told me that a Labra doodle had came in on Sunday, and it had went out the same day. I asked to see records of what came in on Sunday, she said they didn't keep records. I have worked with the public for the last 25 years, I feel I am very good at reading people and their body language. I felt confident that she was lying to me. She ended up screaming at me then she got in her car and left.

I went in the office and asked to be shown around the complex to verify that Jazz wasn't there, they agreed and a man named Johnny Adams took me up and showed me around. I felt that he was hiding something too as he made a halfhearted attempt to show me around. I did not see any sign of my dog as I searched the complex. As I was leaving I stopped my the main office and told the reception lady that I wanted to talk to the manager. She told me he was gone, I asked for his cell number and she said she was not allowed to give it out. I told her to call them on their phone, that I wanted to talk to him and wouldn't take no for an answer. She dialed the number and gave me the phone. No answer. I left her my contact information and told her to have him call me as soon as he go their on Friday!

On Friday 10/17/2014 I came to work as usual. Around 10:00 am I placed a call with the Nemaha County Sheriff Dept. I talked to an officer Casey Moyer. I told him the story of Jazz, I also told him that I had went there the day before and felt they were lying to me. He assured me that he would follow up, and expressed they have had numerous complaints of Hearts United taking peoples dogs in the past, but had never been able to prove anything. Also I never did receive a call from the manager.

Around 12;00 noon officer Moyer called me back, he told me he had went out there and that Carol Wheeler when asked if they had taken an Airedale in told him no! He asked to look at records and once again was told there were none. He told me there wasn't much he could do at this point, I thanked him and hung up.

After work I ran home to get my chores done so I could go to my sons High School football game. I did chores and headed in around 5:45, as I approached the Nemaha River bridge on the south edge of Humboldt I received a phone call. It was a young man from Iowa, he relayed to me that he was the one that picked my dog up on the 12th, he was worried that she might get hit on the Highway. I told him thank you, and asked where he took her. He told me he took the dog to Hearts United by Auburn. He handed the dog over to Carol Wheeler around 3pm. He also said he had called there on Wed. the 15th and Carol Wheeler told him the dog had been claimed and was gone.

I called the Sheriff Dept. officer Moyer wasn't on duty, but I was able to talk to another officer Lt. Johnson. He listened to my story and said he would go out and talk to them, after he called the young man that took her there and heard his end of the story. At around 8;30 officer Johnson called me back, he relayed that he had talked to Carol Wheeler, when he asked her if she had taken in an Airedale she told him no. He asked her the same question again, and she said no again. He said are you sure, and she said yes. He then told her he had a witness that would testifly in court that he had picked up my Airedale, and taken her to Hearts United. Carol Wheeler was the lady that he handed her over to. She finally came clean and told them my dog was in Lincoln Nebraska. The officer told her to have it back down to Auburn Saturday morning.

My children and I went up to pick her up around 9;30 am on Saturday morning.

I've had two Airedales during my life; smart, loving, and protective. Wonderful dogs.

one of my best friends when i was a kid

he trees as hard as any hound I've ever hunted he's found and treed lions, found bobcats, coons and coyotes and field lions Airedales are great dogs, I've had them almost 50 years and even hunted birds with one who was real birdy"

I’ve got 2 Airedale’s, they’re great dogs!

Airedales are really cool dogs. Only met a few of them but I've always liked the breed. I'm a sucker for a good working breed.

I recently got an English setter. Been a German Shorthaired Pointer guy all my life. Never had to worry about fur or coat maintenance with my shorthairs. Now that I got this setter I've got some interesting things planned for the fur I shave off of her, involving canine trapping.

They're outstanding trapline, decoy, bear and bird dogs. Jack of all trades matter of none.