I always had an Airedale in the house growing up, but I know that they’re not right for everyone. I did some research to see how they did with families.
So, are Airedales good family dogs? Yes, Airedales do well with families, as long as you have enough time to properly commit to them. These dogs don’t do well if they’re not given enough attention.
Airedales are friendly, intelligent, protective dogs who love to be part of a family, and they’ll make an excellent companion for you and your children. However, you need to need to make sure that you have enough time to devote to the Airedale on top of your normal family duties, or they may begin to feel bored/neglected. Additionally, if anyone in your household is afraid of dogs, I wouldn’t recommend the Airedale because of their size and energy level.
Airedales as a Family Dog
How do Airedales fair as family dogs? As with most things, there are pros and cons to them, but I would say that in general, Airedales do very well with families. They don’t pick favourites, and they’re not likely to get jealous of children for taking up the attention of the parents. They have a strong natural pack instinct.
However, that doesn’t mean that they’re ideal for everyone. The Airedale is a super intelligent dog that requires a decent amount of attention; ignoring them won’t go over well. If you’re very busy with family duties, bringing and Airedale into your household may not be the best decision. Without enough exercise/attention, these dogs get bored easily, and when they’re bored, Airedales tend to get destructive.
Benefits
In terms of bringing your Airedale into the household, there are a lot of upsides to these dog. I’ve broken them down below.
Temperament
Easily one of the best parts of the Airedale is their temperament. These dogs are loyal, smart, and playful, and they can easily bring joy to any household. After my childhood Airedale died, we went only a few months before buying another; that’s how much we missed having the little ball of energy to play with, pet, and greet us at the door. These dogs have an infectious energy that will brighten the day of kids and adults alike.
In terms of living with a family, Airedales do exceptionally well. They’re not jealous or possessive, and they’re easy going enough to tolerate children around them. They love having multiple family members to live with who they can play and spend time with.
Airedales are also super loyal, and once they learn who’s in their family, there’s nothing they like more than spending time with them. Whether this is standing around while you do chores or supervising when your kids play in the back yard, they make an effort to be involved in everything going on.
Protective Instinct
Another great thing about the Airedale is their protective instinct. Although they’re not touted as guard dogs — those titles usually go to German shepherds, Dobermans, or Pitbulls — I can say from a lifetime of experience that Airedales have the instincts of a protector. These instincts likely came from their roots, where they were raised as hunting dogs on Yorkshire farms.
The best example of this is the first Airedale I ever owned, Sammy. Sammy was five when my sister and I were born, and although he had received no formal training, he quickly understood that we were the ‘pups’ of his pack and, therefore, had to be protected.
Sammy would guard us against anyone other than our parents. He didn’t like anyone getting close to me, even if he already knew the person. Once, when a family friend came to visit and tried to hold my newborn sister, Sammy lunged to interpose himself between the two of them; he was so aggressive that my dad had to hold him back.
Again, Sammy had never been trained as a guard dog. My parents hadn’t even tried to instill those tendencies into him. He wasn’t aggressive, either; before my sister and I were born, and once we had grown up, he was a friendly and downright goofy dog. When he senses a threat to his family, though, he took it very seriously.
Low Grooming Maintenance
There are some people out there who will tell you that Airedales are high maintenance dogs, but that’s never been my experience. It’s true that their thick, wiry coat does require some attention, but as long as you stay on top of your grooming routine, all you need to do is make sure you brush your Airedale once a week to pull any dead hair off of them. It takes 10-20 minutes per week.
And, what they take up in grooming time, the Airedales make up for in how little mess they make around the house. These dogs hardly shed at all, and they’re very hypoallergenic. Additionally, Airedales are very neat dogs; they don’t drool or spread a lot of dander into the air. Because of this, you won’t have to spend time cleaning up after your Airedale, which cuts down on your chores.
Intelligent
As long as they’ve matured out of their puppy stage, Airedales have an innate understanding of where they fit within a family. To demonstrate this, I’m going to use another story about Sammy. My parent were worried about how he wold react when he went from being the ‘only child’ of the household to being a tertiary concern after me and my sister.
Despite these concerns, Sammy handled the change with incredible maturity. He tolerated us as kids when we would lay on him, pull his hair, and generally be annoying (as kids do). Aside from just understanding that we had to be protected, Sammy also seemed to know that we were children who had to be tolerated. He never dreamt of acting aggressively towards us, even when we annoyed him.
Because of how smart they are, and their good family instincts, Airedales adjust well to family life. They know how to adjust their behaviour based on the different family members they’re dealing with, and that makes them excellent family dogs.
Drawbacks
Now, despite the fact that I’ve been a lifelong Airedale owner, I recognize that there are some challenges associated with the breed. In terms of mixing them with a family, the main issue with Airedales is how much time they demand to stay satiated.
Airedales are very energetic dogs, and they love nothing more than getting to hang out with their family. However, they’re also an energetic breed with hunting blood in their veins, and they have a lot of energy that needs to be let loose daily. More than that, Airedales aren’t simpletons; you can’t just ask them to run in a circle for hours to tire themselves out. They require something exciting and interesting to them, or they’re going to get bored.
In real terms, I would say you need to be prepared to spend 2-3 hours with your Airedale daily to prevent them from getting bored. It may be less, depending on the personality of the Airedale you get, but I wouldn’t recommend buying one unless you know you can free up this time.
When Airedales get bored, they take their boredom out in destructive manners. This usually involves digging or chewing at furniture, which can ruin the state of your household.
So, while they’re lovely, intelligent dogs, they can also be stubborn and require a lot of time. It’s not fair to the Airedale to bring them into a household in which they’ll be neglected and forced to revert to punishable acts just to be entertained.
Airedales with Kids
A large concern for families, obviously, is how well the dog is going to react with small children. The answer is that it depends on how old the Airedale is.
When properly socialized and matured, Airedales can make excellent babysitters, and they’re a great companion to any small children you may have. The stories of Sammy illustrate this point well.
Young Airedales, however, are sometimes not the best mix with small children. They’re not aggressive towards them, but they sometimes don’t always understand just how fragile kids are. These are playful dogs, especially during their puppy stages, and they love to play rough.
This can often mean jumping and biting, which young kids may be scared of or, in the worst case, injured by. The majority of rescue Airedales come from families that brought in an Airedale puppy while they had small children in the house, and had to give the dog up because it played too rough with their children.
If you have a mature Airedale when you bring kids into your family, you should be fine. Introducing a young Airedale to young children, however, is not always the best option. I would say that as long as your Airedale is 2, you’re fine to introduce babies (although you may have to be strict with your Airedale a couple of times so they adjust their behaviour). Likewise, if your kids are at least 5, they can handle an Airedale puppy. Overlapping the two, however, might not be the best call.
Airedales with Other Pets
Of course, not all families are made up of humans. Lots of people wonder how Airedales fair with other animals, and this can be a concern to address before bringing them into your household.
Dogs
The friendly and outgoing Airedale is usually a good match with most other dog breeds. Boisterous and playful, these guys love to run and romp around, especially if the other dog is a similar size to them.
In fact, having another dog in your household can take some of the load off your shoulders, because they now have a playmate with who they can burn a good deal of energy with. This can be a great way to ensure that your Airedale is getting enough exercise if you’re busy with young kids or other family duties.
There are still some things to be aware of, though. I would put some thought into whether or not your Airedale will be a good fit with your other dog. If your other dog is more reserved and low-energy, they might not appreciate the Airedale trying to play with them.
Additionally, if your other dog gets hostile, prepared for some sparks to fly between the two. Airedales are rarely unfriendly, but they also never back down from a challenge. If they feel slighted by another dog, they’re going to stand up for themselves, and they’re likely going to remember that hostility going forwards.
Cats
If properly socialized from a young age, Airedales and cats can be an okay mix. If you have a cat in your household and you get an Airedale puppy, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to train the Airedale correctly to accept the can as a family member, and the two will be able to coexist.
Doing so takes some effort, however, because of the Airedale’s roots as a hunter. They’re genetically programmed to see small, furry animals as prey, and to hunt them down. In order to overcome this instinct, you need to socialize them a lot when the Airedale is still a puppy, and be prepared to strictly reprimand any bad behaviour that your Airedale might display (like stalking the cat).
If you already have an Airedale and you’re considering getting a cat, I wouldn’t really recommend it. Because of how stubborn they are, it can be hard to break an Airedale out of a habit that they’ve already formed. Unless they spend a lot of time around cats as a puppy (say, because you friends have cats), mixing an adult Airedale with a new cat might not be the best call.
Other Animals
Other pets, like rodents or birds, I would give the same caution that I did with a cat. If you can introduce the Airedale to them young and get them to accept the animal as part of their family, you’re probably okay. If not, though, I wouldn’t advise mixing the two.
Dogs Similar to an Airedale
So, by now, we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about the Airedale and their pros/cons. Ignoring by obvious bias, I would say that these guys make excellent family dogs, and my household has always been brighter with one of them around.
However, that may not be the case for you. If you’ve read the guide and decided that an Airedale isn’t for you, there are a couple of other good dog breeds you can consider:
Welsh Terrier
The Welsh terrier is basically like a miniature Airedale. They look the same, they have similar temperaments, and they were bred for similar purposes. Because of this, Welsh’s bring many of the same benefits of the Airedale: they’re intelligent, they love to have fun, and they enjoy hanging out with their family. They’re reasonably easy to train, although they also require good socialization to prevent their hunting instincts from kicking in.
However, Welsh’s are about half the size of an Airedale. This acts as a major benefit for people who might be concerned about their Airedale jumping or biting on a family member and hurting them. Additionally, it can work in your favour if you have someone who’s scared of large dogs.
The downside of getting a Welsh terrier, though, is that they don’t have the same protective ability as an Airedale, because of their size. However, few people get an Airedale strictly for their guard dog ability, so this shouldn’t be a massive concern.
If you want an Airedale but don’t want to have to deal with the size and destructive ability that they bring, the Welsh terrier is an excellent option.
Poodle
Poodles are one of the most popular dog breeds in the world, and for a good reason. They look fairly different from an Airedale, so whether or not you like their appearance is going to be a personal choice. However, once you get below the physical aspect, the Poodle has a lot of good features that make them excellent family dogs.
Some of their similarities to an Airedale include:
- Energy: Poodles are also high-energy dogs that are very playful, although they tend to not roughhouse as much as an Airedale. Your poodle will probably prefer playing fetch to wrestling with you.
- Hypoallergenic: Poodles have hair, not fur, and they don’t shed a lot. This is great for households with people who are sensitive to dogs.
- Size: A standard poodle is almost the exact same size as an Airedale. However, similar to the Welsh terrier, you can get poodles in smaller sizes, if you think that’s going to be better for your family.
Poodles are probably lower maintenance dogs, and they don’t have the same tendency to chew or dig as a bored Airedale will. However, they also require more grooming — daily brushes are recommended — and they don’t have the same protective instinct.