In April of 2003 I lost my best friend, Annie, a little 12 lb terrier mix. She was 17 years old. She had helped raise my children and been everyone's councillor and "nurse doggie". The house was so empty. The kids were "on their own" and I was retired. I needed fur in my life.

Our local animal shelter was having an animal adoption fair at the shopping mall and I told my husband, Lex, I was going to get a puppy. I took all of the necessary documentation with me. I was getting a puppy. When I arrived, after dropping Lex off at a photo shoot, there were four dogs left, an ancient St. Bernard, two Pit Bulls, and a brown & black pup with "sticky-outy" fur.

I stood and watched for a long time. Each time someone got out to look at her and put her back her head drooped lower. Finally, I asked the worker to get her out for me and bring her out from behind the table. I stooped down and she ran to me a cuddled between my knees. That was it! She came home with me.

My "puppy" was 4 months old and weighed 20lbs. She had enormous feet. Although her write up said she was good in the car and could walk on a leash that's not how it was. She chewed up my gear shift and pulled and bounced and grabbed the leash in her teeth. She was almost uncontrollable! I had so many bruises from being jumped on while we walked that the nurse in my doctors office asked if there was something going on at home that they should know about! After trying for several months to get her trained, I called in a professional.

She came to the house once a week for five weeks and gave us lessons. We worked hard every day on those lessons! After that we went to classes our trainer taught. It wasn't pretty at first. We finally settled on a head halter and my what a difference! My jumpy, bitey, kid became cooperative and low and behold SMART!

That was three years ago. Last year we started working on Rally Obedience. We attended our first meet. Raffy did very well, better than I did. The judge said that if I hadn't messed up (I was so nervous) she would have placed. She did everything I asked of her, but asked a few wrong things.

Raffy is now my constant companion. We take long walks and play Frisbee. We go for car rides which she loves! She sleeps with me and lays under the table when I eat or under the desk when I'm on the computer. She has saved me from a dog attack. She became Lady Raffy of Raffydiddle Road! Raffy is part Airedale and part Whoknowswhat. She's the reason I found Planet Airedale!

Fast forward two years. After being on Planet Airedale for two years, we were looking for a Dale friend for Raffy. I had been in touch with a breeder in Virginia and was almost ready to go see some puppies. One Sunday I was reading the pet ads in our local paper and I came across an add for an Airedale pup. That's really unusual here. You see no Dales out & about. I didn't know there were any breeders locally. I called and we went out to see him.

He was skinny and covered with ticks. He was on a run next to a Schnauzer. The owner said he'd gotten the dog with the hopes of breeding but he was too bouncy. He would chew on the Schnauzer and jump on his little boys. He was CUTE! We found out where the breeder was and went to see his parents. They looked good and the lady said they had no problems with hips. They DID NOT x-ray their dogs! That should have been a clue but we were in love and I had to get him out of that place. We took Raffy out to meet him and they got on fine. So he came home with us. We left the owner's and went straight to the vet for tick removal and heart worm tests. Everything looked fine. He became Lord Rhyse Bingley Raffydiddle.

Rhyse & Raffy loved to play in our fenced in field. They ran and chased and had a great time. We started to notice he was easily knocked over and would lay around and cry after their playtimes. He ran "hoppy" in the back and would hunch up like a camel with a humped back. We took him to the vet again who x-rayed him and found hip dysplasia. He has had acupuncture, massage, and take glucosamine, condroitin with MSM. We are now weighing the pros & cons of surgery, plus the money angle.

I'm not at all sorry we took him. He's a great dog. We've done some obedience classes at Petsmart. Rhyse is our baby sitter. He has claimed our 10 month old great-niece as his very own baby. He sniffs her head and gives her kisses and sleeps by the play pen. He also has a special bond with our mentally handicapped daughter. At present he still chews up his bed and tracks mud all over the house. He gives nose pokes and cuddles, chases the cats up trees, shares his drinks with a wet beard, and pesters his "sister", Raffy. However, I can't imagine life without them.