Airedale Standard

Upwards of 90% or greater of all puppies whelped by most hobby breeders will generally go to pet homes.  The breeder should hopefully be producing puppies that still conform to the standards recognized by the American Kennel Club and the Airedale Terrier Club of America as established many years ago.  This standard describes the “as correct as possible” Airedale and while all the puppies in a good litter will not possess each of these qualities to perfection, a puppy bought from a good hobby breeder should be of sound health and temperament and possess many of the features set forth by the standard.  Oftentimes even though a good puppy is sold to a wonderful pet home they may still possess all the characteristics required to gain their AKC championship title were they to be placed in an environment to be trained and conditioned for showing in conformation competition.

Standard of the Airedale Terrier
Adapted from the Airedale Terrier Club of America 1959
From the Terrier Club of New England 1956

HEAD should be well balanced with little apparent difference between the length of the skull and foreface.
SKULL should be long and flat, not too broad between the ears and narrowing slightly to the eyes.  The scalp should be free of wrinkles, stop hardly visible, and cheeks level and free from fullness.
EARS should be V-shaped with carriage rather to the side of the head, not pointing to the eyes, small but not out of proportion to the size of the dog.  The top line of the folded ear should be above the level of the skull.
FOREFACE should be deep, powerful, strong, and muscular.  Should be well filled before the eyes.
EYES should be dark, small, not prominent, full of terrier expression, keenness and intelligence.
LIPS should be tight.
NOSE should be black and not too small.
TEETH should be strong and white, and free from discoloration or defect.  Bite should be either level or vise-like.  An overlapping or scissor bite is permissible without preferences.
NECK should be of moderate length and thickness gradually widening toward the shoulders with tight skin.
SHOULDERS AND CHEST shoulders are long and sloping well into the back.  Shoulder blades flat.  From the front, chest should be deep but not broad.  The depth of the chest should be approximately on a level with the elbows.
BODY The back should be short, strong, and level.  Ribs well sprung.  Loins muscular and of good width.  There should be but little space between the last rib and the hip joint.
HINDQUARTERS should be strong and muscular with no drop.
TAIL The root of the tail should be set well up on the back.  It should be carried gaily but not curled over the back.  It should be of good strength and substance and of fair length.
LEGS The forelegs should be perfectly straight, with plenty of muscle and bone.
ELBOWS should be perpendicular to the body, working free of the sides.
THIGHS should be long and powerful with muscular second thigh stifles well bent, but not turned either in or out, with the hocks well let down parallel with each other when viewed from behind.
FEET should be small, round and compact with a good depth of pad, well cushioned and the toes moderately arched, and not turned either in or out.
COAT should be hard, dense and wiry. Lying straight and close, covering the dog well over the body and legs.  Some of the hardest are crinkling or just slightly waved.  At the base of the hard, very stiff hair should be a shorter growth of softer hair termed the undercoat.
COLOR The head and ears should be tan, the ears being of a darker shade than the rest.  Dark markings on either side of the skull are permissible.  The legs up to the thighs and elbows and the under part of the body and chest are also tan and the tan frequently runs into the shoulder.  The sides and upper parts of the body should be black or dark grizzle.  A red mixture is often found in the black and is not to be considered objectionable.  A small white blaze on the chest is a characteristic of certain strains of the breed.
SIZE Dogs should measure approximately 23 inches in height at the shoulder with bitches slightly less.  Both sexes should be sturdy, well muscled and boned.
MOVEMENT Movement or action is the crucial test of conformation.  Movement should be free.  As seen from the front the forelegs should swing perpendicular from the body free from the sides, the feet the same distance apart as the elbows.  As seen from the rear the hind legs should be parallel with each other, neither too close nor too far apart, but so placed as to give a strong well-balanced stance and movement.  The toes should not be turned either in or out.
Yellow eyes, hound ears, white feet, soft coat, being much over the size limit, being undershot or over-shot, and having poor movement are faults which should be severely penalized.
The use of any and all foreign agents for the improvement of dogs in the show ring, such as coloring, dilating the pupil and stiffening the coat is forbidden under the American Kennel Club rules.  Such acts are unsportsmanlike and unfair to those exhibitors who live up to the rules.