Yesterday while at the dog park I found myself wondering how smart Airedales were as a brand. I decided to do some research on the subject.
So, are Airedale terriers smart? Yes, Airedales are intelligent dogs, although they are not considered to be one of the smartest breeds. Despite this, Airedales can learn lots of tricks or be trusted with certain tasks.
As a breed, Airedales were originally raised to hunt bears in packs. After that they were trained ass both police dogs and search-and-rescue animals in World war 1. Their past as utility dogs in high-stress situations means that Airedales have developed a high degree of intelligence over the years. This intelligence can be used to teach them tricks at home, or it means that your Airedale can be trusted to perform more complex tasks if you want to use them for work. However, Airedales can sometimes be too smart for their own good.
How Smart Are Airedales?
Airedales are regarded to be a highly intelligent breed of dog. It’s hard to rank intelligence in dogs, but on a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being the smartest breeds), Airedales are generally considered to be a 4.
This intelligence doesn’t only lend itself to learning tricks. Airedales are smart in other ways: they pick up on daily routines, can read moods and reactions, and they have some hard-coded instincts that mean some behaviours (such as protecting their family) do not have to be taught. For example, my Airedale Theo can recognize if someone is wearing a jacket, and he takes this as a sign that he might get to go for a walk. He also recognizes the sound of shoes being put on or car keys being picked up as signs that we’re leaving the house.
This intelligence, however, can also be a double-edge sword for Airedale owners. These dogs can sometimes be too smart for their own good, because they come to understand the way that behaviour reward systems work.
To show what this means, I’m going to use another Theo story (my own Airedale). To train him to come at the dog park, we give him treats whenever he runs back to us from where he was exploring to reinforce the behaviour. This works, but only to an extent. Theo’s learned that, at a certain point, he can continue doing whatever he’s doing for a few minutes and then run back to us, and still expect a treat.
Whenever we take him to the dog park, there’s a puddle that he likes to do drink from that’s just outside of the park boundaries. No matter how much we yell at him, he’ll run outside the park, drink from the puddle, and then come running back to us, expecting a treat because he listened to our call.
This goes to show how Airedales can sometimes be too smart for their own good. They learn how to bend the rules to their benefit. They also learn what they can and can’t get away with: in the puddle example, Theo knows that he’s too far away for us to punish him for his behaviour, so he doesn’t have to worry about being reprimanded.
Their stubbornness means that you need to be careful with how you train Airedales, because the methods you use can backfire on you. We’re going to talk more about that later; for now, let’s look at some of the ways in which Airedale’s intelligence is used.
Show Dogs
Airedales compete in many popular breed contests, such as the Westminster Kettle Club. Here, the Airedales are judged on their appearance and presentation as they do basic tasks like running in line with their owner.
Airedales are also smart enough to be used for more complex tasks, like agility runs. They’re not quick enough to compete at a world-class level in the sport, but for some more local competitions, they can definitely participate. Check out the video below to see Airedales doing agility runs.
Although it’s not what they’re most commonly used for, Airedales are intelligent enough to serve as good show dogs.
Service dogs
As I said earlier, Airedales were historically bred for work. First they were hunters, trained to go into bear dens and coax the animals out. After that they were used in the first world war to carry messages behind enemy lines and to help medical officers track down wounded soldiers. Both of these tasks required a high degree of intelligence and obedience from the Airedale. Before German Shepard’s were adopted, Airedales were used as the go-to law enforcement dog.
These formal roles weren’t the only thing that Airedales could do. In the late 1800’s, when the breed was first being introduced, they were commonly taken as farm animals or hunting companions, where they would be taught to herd flocks or retrieve animals for their masters.
As you can see, there’s a long history of Airedales being used for demanding tasks that require a high degree of intelligence. When properly trained, these dogs can understand almost any command and do almost any task.
That being said, if you want a dog specifically for work, and Airedale might not be the best choice for you. Although you can train Airedales very well, they still retain some of their energy, curiosity, and stubbornness. These traits make them better suited for a different type of lifestyle.
Family Dogs
An Airedales intelligence lends itself very well to life as a family dog. They’re not too difficult to train, so if you’re a first-time owner or if you have small children in the house, these dogs make a great companion.
More than that, though, Airedales have an inherent ability to understand and obey family dynamics. Once there’s an established alpha in the house, they respect and obey the pecking order without too much complaining. They also have an intuitive ability to know who’s part of their family; even after spending months away at university, my Airedale Theo was still able to recognize me as the older brother who played with him when he was a puppy.
This understanding of family members means that Airedales are good with small kids. There’s generally no risk of them disliking the children or seeing them as competitive.
More than that, though, Airedales are smart enough to automatically be protective of their family, even if they have no training as a watch dog. When both my sister and I were babies, our Airedale Sammy would often step up into a protective role, especially when my dad (the alpha of the house) had left on business trips.
Training Your Airedale
So, given how intelligent Airedales are, how should you go about training them? There are a couple of important things you should know:
- Positive reinforcement is the way to go: Airedales are stubborn and proud, and they don’t respond well to being hit or yelled at. Obviously, they still need to be punished sometimes (such as when they act really poorly), but for the most part you’ll have more success if you reward your Airedales good behaviour.
- It’s best to train them when they’re young: These dogs learn quickly and adapt well. However, they also have a large independent streak. If they build bad habits at a young age, it can be difficult to break them.
- You need to be patient: While Airedales have a high level of intelligence, they’re not always the most obedient of dogs. They can sometimes become selectively deaf and refuse to listen to the commands they’re given, which is why you might sometimes hear this breed referred to as ‘air-heads’. Now, you can train your Airedale well despite this, but you need to be prepared to have a little bit more patience than might have been necessary to train a different dog.
- There’s a limit to how well you can train them: Airedales aren’t the right dog for everyone, and you shouldn’t try to make them out to be. These are energetic, independent, curious dogs who like to wander, explore, and play. If you get an Airedale with the intent of turning it into a calm, docile companion, you’ll likely be disappointed with the result (and your Airedale will have a sad life).
For more, check out my full article here!
What’s the Most Intelligent Dog Breed?
As I mentioned above, intelligence is hard to measure in dogs. With that said, though, it is generally regarded that border collies are the most intelligent dog breed. They’re also amongst the fastest, which is why you see border collies winning almost every agility competition out there. Check out this video to see a border collie, Tex, absolutely tearing it up:
Aside from competitions, collies are commonly used as herding animals on farms.
Some other extremely intelligent dog breeds include:
- Poodles: One of the most common breeds out there, poodles are very trainable and have a high degree of emotional intelligence.
- German Shepherds: There’s a reason that these dogs are used by police forces and armies. German shepherds are extremely smart and can learn a variety of tasks, like tracking criminals and sniffing bags.
- Shetland Sheep Dog: Basically a miniature border collie, these dogs are super playful and love to learn new tricks.