Airedale Terrier

Lively and independent; stays playful into adulthood.
An Airedale Terrier
Photo: Michail Jungierek
Adult weight
23–32 kg
50–70 lb
Lifespan
12 yrs
Class · Family
also Sport, Watchdog

What it's like

In temperament the Airedale is confident, alert and lively, with the independent streak of a working terrier. It tends to stay playful well into adulthood and to be watchful with strangers. Admirers call it the King of Terriers. In the United States, President Warren Harding's Airedale, Laddie Boy, reportedly had his own chair at cabinet meetings.

Day to day
Activity
Needs lots of exercise
Intelligence
Needs daily brain work
Handler demand
Needs an experienced owner
With people
Affection
Affectionate on its own terms
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Decides for itself
Around the home
Sensitivity
Hardy, takes a busy home in its stride
Voice
Barks to alert, then settles
Prey drive
Likely to chase small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
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Living with one

It has a wire or harsh coat. Loose hair stays caught in the coat until it is brushed, stripped or clipped out. Plan on a brush once a week, plus hand-stripping two or three times a year. It needs a moderate amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

An Airedale Terrier is a large dog, about the weight of a grown Golden Retriever. It is one of the lightest large breeds.

The Airedale is a square, long-legged terrier with a long, flat head, small, folded V-shaped ears, and a beard and whiskers on the muzzle. The coat is hard, dense and wiry over a softer undercoat. A black or grizzle saddle covers the back and neck, and the head, ears, legs and underside are tan. For the show ring the coat is usually hand-stripped rather than clipped, which keeps its harsh texture.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
By about 5 months, a male Airedale Terrier puppy is already as heavy as a grown Staffordshire Bull Terrier. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
11 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight7
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
0102030402m4m6m9m12m18m
0102030402m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
4.9–6.9 kg 10.8–15.2 lb
5.5–7.6 kg 12.1–16.8 lb
3 months
7.3–10.2 kg 16.1–22.5 lb
7.7–10.8 kg 17.0–23.8 lb
4 months
10.6–14.8 kg 23.4–32.6 lb
11.1–15.5 kg 24.5–34.2 lb
5 months
13.6–19.0 kg 30.0–41.9 lb
14.0–19.6 kg 30.9–43.2 lb
6 months
16.2–22.7 kg 35.7–50.0 lb
16.4–23.0 kg 36.2–50.7 lb
7 months
18.2–25.5 kg 40.1–56.2 lb
18.2–25.4 kg 40.1–56.0 lb
8 months
19.6–27.4 kg 43.2–60.4 lb
19.4–27.2 kg 42.8–60.0 lb
9 months
20.6–28.8 kg 45.4–63.5 lb
20.3–28.5 kg 44.8–62.8 lb
10 months
21.2–29.7 kg 46.7–65.5 lb
21.0–29.4 kg 46.3–64.8 lb
11 months
21.7–30.4 kg 47.8–67.0 lb
21.4–30.0 kg 47.2–66.1 lb
12 months
22.0–30.8 kg 48.5–67.9 lb
21.7–30.4 kg 47.8–67.0 lb
15 months
22.6–31.6 kg 49.8–69.7 lb
22.4–31.4 kg 49.4–69.2 lb

Health and lifespan

In vet and lab records from the UK and North America, the conditions below turn up more often in Airedale Terriers than in crossbreeds. The most serious are mouth melanoma (more likely) and lymph node cancer (slightly more likely), and both can shorten a life. These are figures for the breed as a whole, not a prediction for your dog.
Listed by likelihood level, highest first, then by how serious it is, then by name.
  • Mouth melanoma
    Lab-confirmed cases
    More likely
    Impact: life-limiting
  • Skin melanoma
    Lab-confirmed cases
    More likely
    Impact: moderate
  • Lymph node cancer
    Slightly more likely
    Impact: life-limiting
Lab-confirmed: compares dogs whose tumour samples went to a lab with dogs seen in general practice, so the figures run higher than vet-record ones.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Airedale Terrier lived to about 12 years, about average for a large breed.

Where it comes from

The Airedale Terrier comes from Yorkshire, where working men are thought to have crossed terriers with the Otterhound for a dog that hunted rats and otters along the rivers; its name is said to come from the Airedale show, where waterside terriers were entered in numbers. It later served with police and, in the First World War, as a sentry and messenger4,11.

The Airedale Terrier was known by such names as the Waterside Terrier and the Bingley Terrier before the Airedale name took hold in the late nineteenth century; the Kennel Club recognised the breed soon afterwards. Its size and steadiness soon took it beyond the riverbank. Owners used it to hunt larger game in North America and Africa, and it was among the first breeds trained for police work in Germany and Britain in the early twentieth century.

Breed standard

The Airedale Terrier is judged against standard no. 7, in group 3, Terriers4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Airedale Terrier figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a large breed is most likely at the later end.

Compare with related

Standard Schnauzer
Pinschers & molossoids · Medium
Welsh Terrier
Terriers · Small
Giant Schnauzer
Pinschers & molossoids · Large
Irish Terrier
Terriers · Small
Or compare the Airedale Terrier with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·