Airedale Terriers were the
first breed of terriers to appear in Russia. At the beginning of the
Russo-Japanese war in 1904, the Russian embassy in London approached Lt.
Col. Richardson, the recognized authority in the field of military
dog-breeding at the time, with a request to help provide the Russian
army with dogs specially trained to take the wounded away from the
battlefields 
Richardson promptly responded, and, in due course, his terriers were
sent to St Petersburg, the Russian capital at the time. Most of these
dogs were Airedales, which were soon accepted by the Russian army as the
best dogs for communication and sanitary services. These Airedales had
been imported from England. Both the original Airedale Terriers and
their masters/breeders perished in the Bolshevik revolution of October
1917.
Airedales were reintroduced in
Russia in the early 1920s when the breed was recognized as useful for
defence departments. Special Red Army units of service dogs were
created in 1923, and Airedales were also used successfully as demolition
dogs, guard dogs, police tracking dogs and casualty dogs. Russia brought
dozens of Airedales through official channels from Britain and Germany,
and began target-breeding of Airedales. As a result, this breed
grew in numbers and popularity.
After World War II, Russia had
to restore the breed from two sources: a handful of Airedales remaining
in Moscow and those just brought in from Germany, some of them captured
during the war. Until 1959, Russian breeders relied too heavily on
inbreeding, which brought forth accumulated genetic defects and resulted
in loss of a distinct breed type.
In the 1960s, international
contacts first became possible for Russian dog breeders. Several dogs
were brought to Russia from East Germany and Czechoslovakia. All the new
Airedales had close genealogical links with Europe. They originated from
key sires in the breed, such as Warland Protector of Sheltrock,
Brineland Bonnie Boy, Clie Courtier and Warland Ditto, some of the
greatest sires of the 1920s. By the mid-1980s, the Airedale breed
was well established in Russia and was immensely popular. The Czech
Airedales, tracing their origin from Din First Fire and through the line
of his son Bumbarash, constituted the majority of the Moscow Airedale
community.
In fact, the situation with
Russia's Airedales was not quite as good as it seemed. Foreign contact
was very limited and Russian Airedales were effectively sealed off from
the rest of the world, getting an occasional injection of fresh blood
from East Germany or Czechoslovakia. These infrequently imported dogs
were certainly not up to a high standard. There was little or no
information about winners of major international shows; few dog
yearbooks or catalogues of dog photographs
were
available. Yet the Russian judges were popularly considered competent
Airedale experts overseas.
Domestic breeders followed a
set of homespun standards approved by the Ministry for Agriculture
rather than the internationally accepted FCI (Federation Cynologique
Internationale) standards. The Russian Breed Standard required a greater
height, with subsequent changes in shape and proportions. Lack of
information on Airedales and absence of reliable benchmarks prevented
domestic breeders from identifying and correcting a number of deviations
and defects.
Domestic Airedales tended to
follow very old standards, long-since abandoned elsewhere. In the
early 1980s, five pedigree Airedales recently descended from English
true bloods came from Finland (four) and France (one). They helped
update the Russian breed of Airedale and made them look more like their
cousins overseas. Their names were Teinikedon Ulimus (a prize-winner,
later dubbed 'Tobik', who made an especially great impact on the breed
in Russia; owner S. Smolanitskaya); males Scherzo De Franc Sablon, Big
Lady's All Attention, and bitches Echo-Lotta (owner Ms Larshina), and
Big Lady's Covergirl Elisa. The grandsire of Scherzo De Franc
Sablon and Echo-Lotta was Jokvl Smart Guy, an excellent Airedale.
Other dogs hailed from the
leading Finnish kennels with excellent Scandinavian lineage. Swed. Fin.
Nor. Ch. Bengal Mogul was grandsire to Big Lady's Covergirl Elisa and
great-grandsire to Big Lady's All Attention through his son Royal Tan
Roderick, also a Champion of Sweden and Norway. Through his other son,
Boogeyman, he was grandsire of Teinikedon Ulimus. Another popular
Finnish Airedale was in Tobik's pedigree - Malmangen Goldpowder, tracing
his origin to dogs raised in the best known English kennels, Krescent,
Bengal and Siccawei.
These bloods soon improved the
quality of the breed and the Russian Airedale became more modern and
elegant and more like proper terriers. Tobik's participation in
breeding was particularly valuable. In appearance, he was materially
different from other Russian Airedale Terriers at that time, even from
locally acknowledged best specimens. He had strong genes, passing
his best qualities on to his offspring: a beautiful head, a great body,
a good coat of hair, etc.
Teinikedon
Ulimus was the first Russian Airedale Terrier to produce descendants of
such quality and uniformity.
The Ulimus children and
grandchildren won at dog shows wherever Finnish blood was added to
Airedales. Matings of Tobik with Finnish bitches also produced
some outstanding results, as his blood was mixed with that of Scherzo De
Frank Sablon.
By the 1980s, Moscow and
Leningrad were no longer Russia's only centres breeding Airedales. Large
Airedale sections were organised in Saratov, Rostov, Minsk, Vladimir,
Ekaterinburg and Perm. Dogs from Saratov often won top places at
major dog shows. Saratov's breeders widely used Teinikedon Ulimus,
in-breeding on him 2-2 (where Tobik was the grandsire on both mother's
and father's sides). Their competent breeding soon produced good
results; Saratov dogs from the Style club led at the largest shows in
the country.
Echo-Lotta's offspring from
Rostov-on-Don were an important factor in successful breeding of
Airedales in Saratov. Echo-Lotta produced a large progeny,
including bitches Pifaldina Pride (owner Kostyuk), Duchess Pride (owner
Kuropatkina), and Pifaldina's daughters, Michaela Style (owner Yerokhina)
and Minion Style (owner Kvasha). Michaela and Minion's
litter-sisters Marjolene Style (owner Kanniniex, Riga), Marilyn Style
(owner Pryzhukova, Odessa), and Musetta Style (Rostov-on-Don) won at the
dog shows in their respective cities. They had many litters and gave
birth to large families.
Tobik's lineage was further
developed in Moscow-based clubs - MGOLS (Russian abbreviation for Moscow
City Society of Dog Enthusiasts; Chairperson for Airedale Division N.
Kirsanova) and Elite (Head Breeder S. Smolanitskaya). Dogs raised
and trained in these clubs won at many dog shows. The winners include
Hunter Pride (owner Ms Rubina), Negoro Ergunt (owner Mr Terentiev),
Lisbeth Pride (owner N. Kirsanova), Tornado Twist (owner Ms Budnik),
Trassy Twist (owner M. Khokhlova), and many more.
Perestroika
of the late 1980s brought a crisis upon Russian dog-breeding which soon
began to take its toll on Airedale Terriers. Before then, most
Airedales had been concentrated in official DOSAAF dog clubs, of which
the DOSAAF club in Moscow was the largest and best-equipped. Moscow held
two city shows every year, plus two regional shows, which attracted many
participants, with some of the finest specimens of the breed in Russia.
This made the title of a Moscow
show winner very prestigious. The dogs exhibited at Moscow shows
reflected the actual state of affairs in the breed; those shows
registered successes and failures of breeding. Between 50 and 60
dogs in each age group took part in the shows from 1985 to 88.
Between 1987 and 1989, dog associations and clubs sprouted everywhere
across Russia; the breed became split into sub-breeds. People involved
in Airedale breeding were not always competent, and changes and
divisions in the breed were not always for the better. Moreover, the
names of Teinikedon Ulimus, Scherzo and Echo-Lotta were becoming ever
more distant in the family trees, and the effect of English blood was
waning. Recent political change meant that Russian breeders could
now cross borders at will and see European Airedales.
Foreign literature about the
breed became more available, as well as providing more reliable
comparisons. It became clear that our 'Finns' did not possess some
of the very important features of a modern Airedale's appearance.
From the late 1980s to date, more than 40 Airedale dogs and 20 bitches
were brought to the USSR (and later NIS) from 12 countries around the
world.
Few other breeds in Russia can
boast of such extensive imports. The first imported dogs opened a
new page in history of the breed in Russia; it was not merely a
transition to new dogs with different lineage, to a
new vision of the
Airedale breed, to new organisation of breeding, to stricter criteria
for selection and breeding. Thus Russia joined the civilised dog world.
New private and
co-operative kennels replaced the centralised authoritarian dog clubs
where often-misguided staff 'zootechnicians' would arbitrarily impose a
set of breed criteria. The new private kennels specialise exclusively in
Airedales, gathering dogs with the most interesting exterior, which
represent valuable breed material.
Stiff competition has
propelled several Airedale kennels into eminence: Style (Saratov, head
breeders Alla Yerokhina, Galina Kuropatkina,) Bright Nose (Moscow,
breeder Elena Lapina), Catherina's (Tallinn, breeder Ekaterina
Kantievskaya), Stunning (Ekaterinburg, breeder Natalya Stafeyeva),
Cornels (Moscow, Elena and Sergey Nikulina), Basidale (Saratov, breeder
Vasili Turin), Modern Type (Moscow, breeder Natalya Kirsanova),
Excellent (Moscow, breeder Nina Chichkova), Quick Fly (Moscow, breeders
Elizaveta and Irina Elizarova), Gypsy (Moscow, breeder Inna Danilova).
Local clubs, private
kennels and breeders unite into National Airedale Clubs. The
winners display careful trimming and training. Presentation of
dogs at shows is becoming increasingly important.
It
is often hard to say (even for a casually observing expert) how much in
the winner comes from nature, and how much from hard training, trimming
and handling by the ambitious master. Even foreign experts note
that the beauty of Russian Airedales is now on a par with the best
Airedales overseas.
Though modern Russian
Airedales have totally different origins, the current success is not
totally isolated from previous achievements. 'Old' Airedales made the
breed well known and much loved in Russia. Dedicated Airedale
enthusiasts have accumulated a wealth of experience over the years:
Natalya Kirsanova, Emily Nogachevskaya, Sergei and Elena Nikulina,
Elisaveta and Irina Elizarova, Julia Lakatosh, Ekaterina Senashenko,
Anna Stouit (Moscow), Galina Kuropatkina and Alla Yerokhina (Saratov),
Marina Bezukladova (St Petersburg), and Natalia Stafeyeva (Ekaterinburg),
among others, have devoted more than fifteen years of their lives to
Airedales. Russian breed material now includes some of the best
modern blood in the breed.
Airedales
have become serious competition to other breeds in Best in Group and
Best in Show inter-breed contests. Nobody is really surprised any
longer that our Airedales win such contests. Strongfort Xterminator,
Basidale Sea Rover Of Constanta, Kornels Great Beauty, Kron Berry, It's
My Life Kornels, Spicaway Brutus have all won in the Terrier class;
others are poised to win in the near future.
Some Russian dogs have
participated in foreign shows, and won top places and awards. Soft-Air
Vichy, Britham Pendragon 
Wrath-Amon, Epoch International Time, are all
Finnish Champions. Eight Russian male Airedales and ten bitches
took part in the 1998 World Show in Helsinki, and were described as
excellent by the jury. Five dogs and six bitches won prizes: Quick
Fly Temptation (Rollingstones To Russia With Love x Rotbi Darfly
Bright), owned by Lisa Elisarova, won Res. CACIB.
All
this gives us hope that Airedales, this favourite breed, has a great
future, and that new, more numerous Airedale generations will be capable
of winning at the world's most prestigious shows. In the last few
years,
the number of the Russian kennels and breeders of Airedales has grown,
that means the increase of interest in Russia of this wonderful breed.
The most popular kennels are: "Rus Kornels" (Elena and
Sergey Nikulin), "Konstanta Ross" (Julia Lakatosh), "Katherina's Line"
(Ekaterina Senashenko), "Modern Type" (Natalia Kirsanova), "Sterling
Nan" (Natalia Sterling), "Quick Fly" (Elizaveta and Irina Elizarova), "Sher"
(Nadejda Mikheeva) and others. Russian Airedales take part and
often win the European and world dog-shows, especially dogs from "Rus
Kornels".
It is very
interesting: maybe Russian Airedales have chance to win the famous
English dog-show Crufts. By the way, not long ago the English boy,
son of famous English Airedale-Champion, winner of many dog-shows
Stargus Galileo, came to Russian kennel "Sher". His name is
Stargus Galiano, now he is only 7 months old, and he is in the beginning
of his show career, but he already won his first dog-shows in Russia.
