Grooming Your Airedale

The Airedale is a two-coated dog, with a heavy, wiry outer coat and a heavy undercoat of a somewhat softer texture. It is up to you to keep your pet looking trim, neat and handsome instead of wild and woolly, and a little time spent on grooming sessions will do a great deal for his comfort and appearance.

If your dog is acustomed from puppyhood to being handled, grooming should be no problem. Have him stand on a bench or platform so you won't have to do much bending down when you work on him.

Caring For The Coat

Start each grooming session with a brisk rubdown with your fingertips over the dog's whole body. This will loosen any dead skin. Then give him a thorough but gentle brushing. (A bristle brush is preferable to the nylon type.) When you brush him, especially during the summer and fall months, check his coat for any signs of fleas, lice or ticks. If you do find parasites, use a spray or dip to get rid of them. When there are fleas, you will also have to change the dog's bedding and spray the areas of the house where he stays, paying special attention to cracks in the floor and along the baseboards. Repeat the de-fleaing treatment in about a week. Make sure the dog doesn't lick too much insecticide off his coat; if necessary, you can put a clown collar around his neck so he won't be able to reach his body with his tongue. Don't leave flea powder on too long, as it may be strong enough to burn his skin or coat.

If you find ticks, be sure to remove the entire insects. You can touch them with a drop of iodine or a lighted cigarette (be careful not to burn the dog) to break their grip. Then lift them off, one at a time, with a pair of tweezers or a tissue and burn them or drop them into kerosene or gasoline to kill them.

If you find lice, small sucking and biting insects which attach themselves to the dog's body, you must apply a good pesticide regularly, burn all the dog's bedding and thoroughly disinfect his living quarters.

The hard, wiry coat of the Airedale needs a periodic trimming, with the excess soft hair stripped out. If you don't attend to this, you will see your dog rubbing himself on a fence or piece of furniture trying to get rid of it himself.

The first step in trimming is to go to a pet shop and obtain some tools made especially for his type of coat. You can also buy a trimming chart that will show you the result you will be aiming for.

Let's start with the puppy's coat. Between 8 and 10 weeks of age the Airedale puppy will have long hair starting to stand up above the heavier coat. This puppy coat should be hand plucked with your finger and thumb. Working down from his forehead and ears, pluck a little of this coat each day. With a fine-toothed metal comb, remove dead hair and dirt. Make this a daily routine and soon your puppy will look forward to his beauty sessions. This step in grooming gives the hard coat a chance to come through. In addition, when you remove the heavy hair from the puppy's ears it makes them much lighter in weight and easier to stand up, as an Airedale's should. Always pull the hair in the direction in which it grows, never backward. Do not pull out eyebrows or whiskers, and always leave the "furnishings," the hair on the legs, brows and foreface. Keep the hair long on the lower part of the chest too.

Fifteen minutes of brushing daily will keep the coat healthy and shiny, and will encourage it to lie close and flat to the body. Always brush in the direction the hair grows. Brush the leg furnishings and whiskers lightly to prevent tangles, but don't use a comb on them more often than once a week. With a hard and wiry coat, too much combing of the furnishings tends to break them off, spoiling the appearance of the dog.

The adult coat will begin to come in by the time the dog is about 3 months old. At this time you will be able to tell whether he will have the ideal hard coat or whether it will be a little on the soft side. Remember that the standard calls for a hard, wiry coat, but if you don't plan to show your Airedale it won't make much difference.

Many young Airedales have a soft coat which, when worked with diligently, gives way to a harder coat. On the other hand, there are some that will never grow the hard coat, no matter how hard you work. Even if your dog's coat is naturally hard, there are some things you must do to keep it in the best condition. Three or four times a year he should be hand stripped. Try to arrange this according to the temperature. If you are not going to show him, it is just as well to let his coat grow long during the cold months, but keep up the daily grooming. After you have let the coat go into "full bloom," your dog will need a complete hand-stripping job.

First comb through the coat with a metal comb with large open teeth. This will remove a lot of old hair. Then start with a non-cutting tool on his skull and continue working back, down the neck, body and tail, pulling the old coat out as you go. Shape the top ofthe hips gradually so the hair on the back legs won't resemble "bloomers." Go over his shoulders and ribs in the same manner, leaving the chest hair intact. Now go after the ears and the side of the head. Pluck the straggly hair from eyebrows and legs, as this is old hair that is probably lighter in color than the rest of the coat. Don't fret if you see a few completely bare spots. These "falling in" holes are common in a dead coat, and within a week the spots will be covered with beautiful new shiny hair.

After the trimming you may bathe your Airedale. When he is dry, pluck the top of his eyebrows so that they will lie smooth and flat from his forehead over his eyes. With barber shears, trim off ragged edges at an angle, leaving the hair longer at the inner Corner of the eyes and even with the side of his head at the other end, Use a stripping knife and some hand plucking between the eyes until his head, in profile, forms a straight line from the skull to the tip of the nose. Use No. 15 clippers on the inside of the ears.

Then gently comb the leg furnishings and shape them. The hair grows heavy on the hindquarters and you want your Airedale to look square, so with a stripping knife start near the tail and strip off most of the hair. The dog should look flat from the side. Large tufts of furnishings must come off to give the desirable boxy look. Shape them with the hips and blend in. On the back of the hind legs, take out all the long ragged hair to the top of the hocks.

Now for the feet. Trim the hair between toes and pads, then work gently around the edge of the pads, leaving the foot with a firm, round outline. Trim heavy hair off elbows and shape front legs by pulling out long straggly hairs. You can use clippers on the inside of the back legs near the top and on the belly. Trim the chest hair at an angle from elbows to belly, giving the appearance of a deep chest and a good tuck up.

If your dog happens to have the soft coat, try to pull out as much of the old coat as your can. Use clippers to get the same effect as the hand stripping gives on the wiry coat. Use No. 15 clippers on his head, No. l0 on his neck and front, and No. 7 on his body.

All this sounds like a great deal of work, but remember that it is only necessary a few times a year and it will add immeasurably to your Airedale's appearance. Of course if even this is too much for you, you can have the trimming done professionally. Your pet shop or an Airedale breeder will gladly recommend an expert to do the job.