Full Cry Column
October 2003

Kevin G. Kelly (Pacific Coast Working Airedale Terrier Association correspondent)

It's an August evening the end of the month, I just got back from " projeckin' around " with Laurie all day. A little road trip up to King Mountain on Skyline Boulevard (Highway 35), where the fire brigade of King Mountain do a benefit art fair every year, this was year 40. Lots of Folk Art from the folks in the community, iron work, high grade wood working, knitting, weaving, quilts, glass work, photography and paintings. I'm always pleased by what we can come up with as human beings, using our hands, brains and imaginations.
Highway 35 runs the north ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains and gives a beautiful view of the valley's on both sides. Today I noticed that once you leave the redwood forest, the grasses are a warm golden brown in contrast to the green of live oak on the slopes.
Bob McClellan mentioned in an email not long ago how he was feeling fall coming on already. Some of the mornings lately have been socked in fog and the cooler temperatures are welcome. There is still plenty of summer sun in the afternoons.

I got one email from Bob that said, " Came home from a short trip to the mountains yesterday. Fishing was no good this trip, but had a good time anyway.
Had a heck of a thunderstorm Wednesday evening. Rain, hail, wind, and lightning. The next 2 days were cool, and really felt like an early Fall. Warmed back up to 85 here at home yesterday, but last night was still cool. Good sleeping weather.
Made some little Airedales this morning. Made the Kelly/Abby cross for the second time. Pups due October 13th. Bob Mc"
It's always good to hear from Bob. I don't know anyone who spends as much time in the wilderness as he does.
I wrote him to ask about Rock-O, a male pup from the first Kelly/Abby cross;
" Hi Kevin, I saw Rock-O the other day. Good looking dog. Not as big as his father. (Kelly) Of the 3 pups I have seen from that litter, Magic is the smallest, Rock-O is larger, and Jim's Dove (the female) is the largest. Dove is real leggy; built to run! They are all medium size, or terrier type. Kelly will weigh about 60 pounds. Will breed Abby again this evening or tomorrow evening. That should do it.

ROCK-O

Going to take a dog or 2 and go prowl around on the mountain behind the house today. Archery hunting season opens this weekend, and I want to get out a couple of times this week with the dogs, before the place gets over run with bow hunters. I just gotta laugh every time I see a pickup go by with 3 or 4 guys in the back with compound bows, in full camo and war paint; road hunting!
Still cool here. 85 degrees yesterday, but I slept under 2 blankets last night. Cool enough this morning that I thought about throwing a few sticks in the wood stove. Sure feels like an early Fall, but they predict it will be back in the 90's by next week. Bob Mc"

Bob, don't you know, a lot of folks get into certain sports just so they can wear the clothes! Another result of marketing I think. Certain shorts will make you a better tennis player or a faster bicyclist, and certainly the right brand of camo gear will make you a better shot.
Right after bow season is gun season for deer so that keeps most dog hunters out of the woods for quite awhile. A good idea, although I like to believe that most hunters are responsible and would not shoot another mans dog.
And yes, Bob, the following week it did get back into the 90's with the sun burning bright.
I'm attaching a photograph of Rock-O. He is a good, looking dog and I'd like to breed Brigid to him some time. He is owned by Roger and Brenda Towne
A while back Henry Johnson of Fults Cove had a narrow escape with Teeka his Border Terrier and wrote of her experience. I want to put it in here for all of us who miss Henry's column and enjoy his style of writing.
"As I think you know, I almost lost Border Terrier Teeka this past spring when she developed a serious uterine infection after cesarean surgery to remove her dead Ian pups. She was in and out of the vet's for a two, week period and twice I thought she wouldn't live five minutes more. She is fully recovered now and is as active and alert as ever and tells me she is good to go any time the weather cools off enough for us to get back after those Middle Tennessee groundhogs. She knows she had a near-death experience, though. Here's the way she tells it.
"Yes, I was the sickest I've ever been. All those cuts and battle wounds I have taken from groundhogs and possums were nothing compared to this. When I finally woke up many hours after the surgery I was badly nauseated and could not hold down food of any kind or even water. I knew I had to drink water and kept trying to do so but would take three or four shaky steps and throw it right back up again. Pretty quick I was badly dehydrated and so weak I couldn't stand. You rushed me off to the vet's and old Sam Young hooked me up to I.V. gear and flooded me with saline solutions and antibiotics and got me going again. But as soon as I got home it was the same old story and back I had to go to the vet's. As you know, on two occasions I was so far gone that my teeth were clenched tight shut and my eyes were glazed over and my breathing was so shallow and heartbeat so faint that I figured it would be very easy to just give up and die. It was during the second one of these bad times that I had a strange experience.

TEEKA AND HER QUARRY

"Everything got very quiet and dark and a thick fog came down so I could see and hear nothing. I had a compelling urge to get up, and what seemed to be a sort of second body within my real body did that and slowly and cautiously I moved off through the fog, following some kind of trail, going just on sheer instinct. As I moved along, the fog began to lift and patches of blue sky appeared in the cloud cover overhead. I came to a clear flowing stream and by then the sky had cleared except for a few white fluffy clouds and the weather was crisp, cool, and beautiful. Ducks came flying down the stream and all sorts of birds flitted around in the trees along the banks and sang a variety of bird songs. Instinct told me to cross the stream so I plunged in. You know how much I love the water and what a good swimmer I am.
The current swung me downstream in a shallow arc until I came ashore on a small sandy beach on the far side. Shaking myself dry, I began to follow a path through a green meadow and then up a long sloping ridgeline to a woods I could see there.
"When I reached the edge of the forest I saw an old man in a ragged hunting coat sitting on a flat surface of bare limestone ledgerock. He had a big book of some kind in his hand and looked down at it from time to time as he watched me approach. I stopped in front of him and sat down and looked up and he said, 'Well, hello, Teeka, my name is St. Peter and I'm the gatekeeper for Heaven. What are you doing here? I don't see any note in here about us expecting you today.'
"'Well,' I said, 'I think I died and I'm just following my instinct,
which told me to come along here and wait until my Daddy catches up and joins me.'"
"'Ok,' said St. Peter. "I'll just check on that. Let me make a call
up to the main office and see if they know something about it up there.' With that he took a cell phone out of his pocket and dialed a short number and spoke to whoever answered and was put straight through to God.
"'Boss,' said St. Peter, 'I've got a sort of special situation down here today. You know that good looking, good working Border Terrier bitch, Teeka, that's down there in the Cove with Old Man Johnson, well she's here saying she has died and has come to wait until he comes too. But I have no record of us expecting Teeka here today, or anytime soon, nor Old Man Johnson neither. I'm not quite sure what to do about it.'

END OF A DIG

"'Well,' said God, 'I know that Teeka dog and she for sure is a good
one. And, as you know, I have a particular liking for those Airedales and Border Terriers and do like to see a little good terrier work from time to time. Hang on there and I will put things on hold here and be right down to look into the situation.'
"So God got up from his big desk and went to the corner of his office
and picked up his 5-foot staff and stepped out into the anteroom and told the angels on duty there to hold all calls and reschedule all appointments while he was gone awhile on important business. Then he stepped off down the hill and pretty quick came to where St. Peter and I were waiting.
"'Hello, Teeka,' said God. 'You're looking good and we're glad to have you pay us a short visit. What did you have in mind?'
"'Well,' I said, 'I thought I was dead and figured the thing to do was to come up here and wait until my Daddy joins me and then we might be able to get out and try to find a groundhog or two if you've got any around here.'
"'Well,' said God, 'that's a good plan for sure and I look forward to
the both of you coming here one day and to getting out in the field with you if those durn coyotes have left us anything to hunt. But we're not quite ready for either you or Old Man Johnson yet and I know he's grieving mightily, thinking he has lost you. I believe the best thing is for you to go on back there to the Cove and get back on your feet and stay with Old Man Johnson and the rest of the Cove terriers and Sandhill Airedales for a few more years. Then when the right time comes we will have a place for all of you here and we can have a lot of good dog talk and some good hunts every now and then when I can slip away from the office.'
"So, with that, God and St. Peter both gave me a pat on the head and
pointed me back down the hill and sent me home. I woke up down at Sam Young's, hooked up to the I.V. again, but little by little got my strength back and a couple of days later you came and got me again and took me back to the Cove.
I'm back in good shape now, but when the time comes for me and you and the rest of the pack here to move on to the spirit world I know the trail and can lead you there and give you a personal introduction to St. Peter and God. And I can assure you that they like good dogs there and enjoy good dog talk and a good hunt any time they can slip away from the office."
That was the way Teeka told it to me, and I have no doubt that every
word of it is true. Henry Johnson, Fults Cove, Tennessee."

Thanks Henry don't ever stop writing. Henry has a quote that I like: "You live and learn and then you die and forget it all. The only solution is to write it all down."
Wayne Waggoner had a litter out of Rebel/Ginger Snap. I wrote him to ask about how many males and females and how the litter went. The ever, eloquent Wayne, answered with this. "3 &3 Airedales. All gone to hunters. Thanks, Wayne"
Wayne is a good and experienced dogman. I would like to meet him in person and spend a hunt together. I'll bet I would learn a lot.

Joe Cathey got a hold of me the other day and it must have been that thirty minutes a day, that Billy Harkins talks about, when a man completely looses his mind. When the conversation was over I had agreed to get Burr to him, in North Carolina. Joe sounds like a good man and I think he will be a good one to trade dogs with in the future. He has a female from Odon Corrs cross of Turtle Peak Jack/Tyke that he would like to breed with Burr. I think he will be very happy with the cross and I will be reserving a female from the first litter.

BURR AND RHINO

I had Burr out this morning and he is everything Joe said he was looking for. Bold disposition, smart, and uses his nose well. He will be going out in a couple days and I'm hoping this decision works out well for Burr and Joe.
Joe has a spot high on the mountain back there in western North Carolina, where you can go and spend some time in deluxe wall tents along the Appalachian Trail. Sounds like as place I will be visiting. Here's his web sight if you want to look into it. http://www.blueridgebasecamp.com

Billy Harkins had some good luck with his Sally Bell being bred to his Steel. Steel should be no stranger to the readers of Full Cry. He is out of Odon Corr's Buster and has heart as big as a barn. Sally Bell is Slim/Alley Cat and a good solid bitch with 'the hunt' running through her veins.
Billy wrote; "The Steel / Sallybell pups were born Thursday the 14th. She has five females and three males.
The fact that I have been working out of town this past week is the reason that I didn't get back with you any sooner.
It has been hot here too but I did manage to get out Monday morning for a little while with my bull dog Boozer and he bayed up a good bear. It looked like it would go a solid 400lbs. I'm sure glad that I didn't have any catch dogs with me, or it would have been a trip to the vet for sure.
I have a month to hog hunt now till deer season opens. Right now I am covered up with work and looks like I will be lucky to get to go much. I plan a trip early in the morning with a buddy of mine here close to home. I went last Monday morning just before daylight and bayed up a good bear. I was hoping to get up with a big hog that is in the area but we have so many bear here that it's hard to hunt. If you turn your catch dogs in on a bear of any size it ain't a pretty sight. So it is getting kind of aggravating and in fact the last three times that I have been out my dogs have gotten on bear and no hog."
Billy you're just going to have to run two packs, break one ofO running bear! I'll send you O'Sheen as your first exclusive pig dog.

I got an email from Scott Rios inviting me to check out the working terrier web site. So I'll pass on the invitation to all you working terrier folks out there. Scott wrote; "I was reading your Full Cry articles and thought I would invite you to http://www.terriercentral.com/ to talk about hunting Terriers. There are other AD folks there, and it's a friendly place for hunters to tell stories, and exchange ideas. All Terrier hunting is welcomed. I hunt 2 Airedale crosses along with Fells and Jagds. We hunt everything from Badger to Bear...LOL Hope to see you there. Take care. Scott "UphillDoc" Rios"
I wrote Scott and thanked him and told him to, by all means, send field reports and photos of his dogs. He wrote back: "I would send you field reports and photos, but dont know if the AD folks want to hear about a couple half breeds or other Terriers. Before you use one of my older stories, let me clear it with the other folks I mention in the story. Some folks don't want their name or dogs in a wide read magazine like Full Cry, especially if they had an off day...LOL
I noticed in your latest article that you had a dog "O'Sheen" that you were wanting to farm out to a hunting home. If you're still looking, I might be interested. He would get hunted year round on Bear, Lion and Coon. I also use dogs when predator calling, and might try him at that also. I would give you hunting updates and full access to him for breeding of course. Let me know.
I'm in SW Idaho. Between Boise and Twin Falls. I have really been enjoying my 2 AiredaleX's and would like to hunt with some straight Airedale to compare how they do. The 2 I have don't act like Hounds (and that's good...LOL), so I attribute that to the Airedale side. I like the "Redline" dogs better than the heavier coated ones also. If I could find a small, short coated, bitch, I would breed her to my AiredaleX male or to my Fell male for sure. Take care. Scott "
Thanks for the offer on O'Sheen, Scott. I have a love/hate relationship with O'Sheen. In the field he is poetry in motion, in the kennel he is nerve racking. For the time being I think it's "good therapy" for me to work on my patience. You sound like a good prospect for O'Sheen, I will keep it in mind. I wouldn't think he would make a decoy dog for calling, he prefers to be in the thick of it. Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.

HANK

You need not worry about us not being interested in your stories because you have Airedale crosses. Lots of folks consider making an out cross with their dog to an Airedale and would be very interested in what you have experienced. Tell us all about them and send some pictures.

One of the pictures this month is Hank (Grit/Katie) he is owned by Mike Johnson and PJ Sylvester. I haven't heard from them in awhile. I hope all is going well for you guys. If Brisk ever goes into heat again, maybe we could get back there to Colorado and make some magic puppies!

The quote this month comes from a horse trainer I know. He always said about working with horses, that you need to be; "As gentle as possible, as forceful as necessary." (Richard Winters).
As I move through life, I find it to be a pretty good guideline for everything.

Remember as Henry S. Johnson Jr. always said " Let us hear from you Airedale people. And don't forget to put your arms around those furry black and tan dogs with the beards and the moustaches and talk to them. They are people dogs and family members."
Respectfully submitted, Kevin G. Kelly, Pacific Coast Corresponding Secretary for the Working Airedale Terrier Association. No rules, regulations, officers, dues or formal affiliations, its more a state of mind.