Airedales hunting in Packs - Ranging out confidently

[An Táin Working Airedales]

Hi Guys,
          I do a different type of hunting than many of you in the U.S. here in Ireland.  At the moment all I do is work 1 Airedale each week as a tracking dog for wounded deer and my other two Airedales hunting bogland for foxes.

I plan to create the only pack of working Airedales here in Ireland but I have an issue which I need to resolve.

How do I get the dogs to range out and work confidently away from me (sometimes out of sight) for long distances (up to 1km) and for periods of time that may exceed 1-2 hours?

I know your U.S. dogs do this as standard, but my dogs run out, then look for me to prompt them on.  When we are on the tail end of a fox it is different, they have no trouble pursuing game, but I would like them to go into the bog and pick up a fresh scent trail and follow it pressing until the fox bolts from cover or else hits a hole.


This is the cover I work at present here in Ireland, with my youngest bitch "Sika" many months ago.  Nothing like a good photo at the bottom of a post.

[hicntry]

From what I have seen, European dogs are bred to be a lot more dependent than American bred dogs. It is selective breeding at it best. Don't breed the best dog...breed the one that is easiest to handle. The American breeders are right behind. Makes them easier to train. I would say let them run with your redline if he has the range you want. Possibly they will get used to getting farther out.

[An Táin Working Airedales]

Hi Don, I guess it is going to take time. I definitely need to get the rough coat male over the oldest bitch for next year as I believe weight of numbers in generating a pack will be the motivator for dogs to range also. This is going to be tricky, I have to be very careful in creating my first new line.

On a different note, I am digging the oldest bitch (photo taken today - not hard to tell who is who!) tomorrow for fixes so I look forward to seeing her drawing skills and since it is an outing with my brother who is passionate about working Patterdales, we are potentially ambassadors for the Working Airedale world so fingers crossed, I will let you know how my 5 year old bitch gets on. She is fiery though, that is why I called her Meabh, after the fiery Celtic Queen of Ireland who invaded Ulster and had a reputation not to be messed with.