Disciplining an Airedale 101...

Simple. Make 'em sit in the corner.:D

Apparently, Alissa and Aeryn Brooke were in the midst of folding clothes . And Willie was being helpful by diving into every stack that was folded. Wouldn't jump into the unfolded stack..Hell No ! Waited until towels or whatever were stacked neatly and then ''VOOOM "! ...head first.

So she made him sit in the corner for ignoring 'No'. This was the sight that greeted me after work one night . I was told "Ignore him.He's in trouble."

But later, of course, he needed comforting and ,what can I say; I'm a sucker for killer teddy's.

You're right...and that's how I handle it. But Mama was there and handled it her way. I was just like "Weird ...didn't even know you could make an Airedale sit in the corner." The very fact she accomplished it was my amazement.

Anyway,both are coming along well....at 8 mos. they are starting to actually look like Airedales.:)

Quote from Dan

Dogs are looking great :thumbsup2: I wish I could see them in action.

Thanks, Dan.... plan on having them first working fur in December; but we're already flushing and retrieveing. They have a bit of 'hard mouth' , but I expected that. Not as much as expected,though.:)

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Quote from Dan

I think that can be fixed with a prickly dummy, or it may discourage the dog. IDK if you can change a dog's natural predisposition like that. I don't think one dog can do it all perfectly, are airdales supposed to be bird dogs? I thought they're more find and bay dogs when not catching small game.

In the 1920's when Jim Thorpe and everybody else were bringing them over , they were ( and are) touted as the 3-in-1 dog...do it all. From birds to bears . Problems is , while they can do it all very capably ;they'll never be better than the specialists . But then not everybody has the kennel space for retrievers,spaniels and hounds either. That's where an Airedale can enter into the scene.

As far as specifically being a bird dog, they are quickly gaining a following. In fact, one by the name of Kaleigh has become quite a celebrity in the Airedale world for her ability in hunt tests and field trials.

http://www.traditionalairedale.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bird&action=display&thread=2217

Hard mouth is a big deal to some....not really deal breaker for me as most dogs practice it from time to time especially with a big, robust Canada goose or a rooster ringneck that is still alive and likes to use it's spurs.
I can reduce it by removing the frozen birds (that I like to use) with my hand and then leaving my hand in their mouth, so they associate biting down with also biting me which they want to avoid at all costs. The other method is to resort to force fetching...which I am not a big fan of.AT all .

Quote from LunkerBuster

Aaron, they are looking great. I was wondering what the forced fetch technique is?

also, for a non traditional technique, I used raw whole eggs and pingpong balls to train my dog bite control, doesnt break either after little practice.the command is "soft" cos i used 'gently' already.
perhaps it could be modified for this

Good insight,Judah...out of the box thinking.