I had never heard of an Airedale and didn’t even know what they looked like, so I found a photo of one on the internet.  My first reaction to seeing that photo was a big gasp and before I could stop myself, I had uttered “What an ugly dog!!”   My very first meeting with an Airedale changed my mind completely.  Their personality is wonderful and I now think that they are one of the most beautiful breeds dog there are anywhere.  These dogs have stolen my heart.

 

 I began searching for a breeder and soon learned that there really weren’t that many of them, especially in the South Eastern US.  Eventually, we located a breeder in Wisconsin that had a puppy available and we immediately seized the opportunity by agreeing to become ‘parents’ to our first adorable little female Airedale puppy (Westmoor’s Fair Lady, or Lady as a call name). We made the long drive from Tennessee to Wisconsin , picked her up, and drove back home to Tennessee with her. It wasn’t long at all until we both became afflicted with a bad case of MAS (Multiple Airedale Syndrome), justifying it by saying that our little girl really needed a playmate. We called the breeder in Wisconsin and found that he had another litter that was just then available to go to their new homes. Needless to say, we were soon in the car again beginning our second long trip, this time to pick up a little boy who sort of named himself on the way back home. He yawned at what seemed like one minute intervals the entire long trip home and so became Westmoor’s Sir Yonzalot, or Yonzie for a call name. 

 

 It soon became apparent that Yonzie was an exceptional little guy. An acquaintance of ours who had show ring experience as a handler told us that she would love to show him. He amazed us in his exceptional successes in the five shows he was in. Unfortunately, while being walked just before his sixth show in Lexington , KY , he jerked the leash from my hand, ran into the street, was struck by a car and killed. Losing such a wonderful little guy absolutely devastated us. During the following time of grief, confusion, and deep introspection, we looked at every option that occurred to us. Out of this, came our decision to do what we could to share this fantastic, intelligent, quirky breed with the rest of the world and ShadoDancer Airedales was born.

 

 It is has never been our goal to produce the most puppies but to have a couple of litters per year of very BEST puppies that we were able to breed.  We are extremely proud that people from 26 states, the territory of Puerto Rico and the countries of Japan and Germany thought enough of the quality of ShadoDancer's puppies to make them a part of their families.

 

Click here to see a map of ShadoDancer puppy locations. 

 

  Although we love to see our Airedales win championships and awards, they are first "family members" to love and from whom to receive unconditional love and loyalty; and let’s definitely not forget those perpetual motion wagging tails and super enthusiastic, sloppy Airedale kisses.  Our emphasis is on improving the breed with each new generation.  Another, equally important focus is on educating people about Airedales and increasing the public's knowledge and appreciation of the breed.

   

That's the short take on how ShadoDancer Airedales began and where we are now.  We take pride in placing our dogs with loving owners, and if you like dogs who are inquisitive, resourceful, and loving---just get yourself a big glass of iced tea, sit down in your favorite chair, put your feet up, get comfortable, and let me tell you about our ‘Dales!  We invite you to visit us at ShadoDancer or to make inquiries via phone, or snail mail.

 

                 Sharon