Shawndee Airedale owner comments:

Greetings Carol...I hope that this email finds you well...Georgie is asleep beside me, as I send off this email....He continues to be a lovely 'gentle giant"....his temperment is amazing and I do love him dearly...school will be done next Thursday, so he and I will be doing "summer stuff" for the 9 weeks of holiday....Everyone who meets him, is fascinated by his laid back manner!!! We were out for an ice cream...just once amonth, I take him, for a child size one..he does love it...and sits perfectly still, while I rotate the cone...so that he has no drips and no mess!!!!What an Airedale....a woman came to the car window and asked if he was from Shawndee..she could spot them..hers was at home...guess that he is not as well behaved as Georgie....I have just made him an addition to his collar....as I needlepoint, I did a needlepoint collar in black with his name in deep gold....it slips right over the leather collar(rolled) that he wears...and he does not seem to mind it at all.....people always want to call him by name..so, this just makes it easier....his favourite walk in the city is down at the marina park, by the boats....I try not to take him when it is too busy..but he does love going into the lake, for a little "walkabout".....he would go for a swim, but I need to keep him on his lead....when we visit at people's cottages, he heads for the lake from my vehicle.....and just lays down, in the water....very funny fellow....
The puppy picture on your web site, reminds me of Georgie, at Winnipeg airport...so precious!!!
Have a great summer Carol....enjoy those puppies, until they go to their new homes...

Suzy (ThornesBurns)
Thunder Bay, ON

Hi Carol – You always talk about how Airedales think, well here are some examples.  

When it was cold outside, I let her out with her boots on.  One day she went out wearing four boots and came in with three, so, many hours later, as it was getting dark and was starting to snow, I figured I better go out and find the boot or it would be buried under the snow until spring.  I put on my coat and slipped on my boots and of course she came outside with me.  I said to her as we headed down the stairs, “Come on, Corey, let’s find that boot.”  She took off, ran around to the front of the house, and came back with the boot in her mouth!  So, I said, “well let’s go back in, then” and without me motioning toward the steps, she ran up the steps and waited at the door.   Is she a brilliant dog or what?

The last few nights Corey has been going into the basement, in the dark, on her own.  This is very unusual behavior for her as she usually avoids stairs.  I tried to spy on her to see if she was trying to get at the honey operation but she was very cagey.  She was strolling around as far away from the honey as possible like nothing was unusual.  Last night she did the same thing and when she came upstairs I noticed some suspicious drops on her head.  When I touched them they were sticky – honey!!  So, I guess she was going down for some dessert and licking up drops on the floor!  She always amazes me how she plans and strategizes.  When I tried to spy on her, she knew she had to hide what she was up to!!  There are times when we have forgotten to put something out of Airedale reach and she actually acts like she is unaware and then waits for us to leave the room.  Then, she dives in and demolishes it before we came back.  Right now Jack has some bee candy in the garage.  She knows it is there and when we let her out she always checks to see if the garage door is open in the hopes she can dash in to get a mouthful before we close the door. 

We moved into our new house on Dec. 13.  Corey absolutely loves it.  The front steps are quite high and she sits out there for hours, surveying her domain.  She is like a new dog now that she has so much freedom, a job to do (”guarding” us from chickadees at the feeder) and lots of exercise.  The other day, Jack took her to the bee yard to keep him company as he did some late winter tasks there.  When they were coming back down the driveway, I swear I have never seen such a happy dog.  She was bounding toward the house, legs straight out front and back, tongue out and smiling ear to ear.  I went to the door and whistled and she flew up the steps, into the house, and just like in a dog food commercial, skidded to a stop in front of her bowl and gobbled down her supper.  I know she was thinking, “Life doesn’t get much better than this!”

She is 10 this spring.  She still acts like a puppy although she is bothered by some stiffness.  I give her glucosamine and it helps somewhat.  Now that we have moved I take her to Fred Lindenschmidt in Selkirk.  His brother is a good friend of my brother-in-law and the three of them often go canoeing together. 

Well, this was a pleasant way to spend part of my lunch hour – writing stories about Corey.  

Deana