Airedale Terrier Hiking
Some time ago I read a piece about Airedale terriers where the author said that there’s nothing that makes an Airedale happier than going on a walk of 45 minutes or so. Now, personally, I think that perhaps running around with a couple of other Airedales on an acre or two of property would be something that would make an Airedale really happy.
But it’s certainly true, at least with the Airedales that I’ve had, they all love to go out on hikes here in San Diego. I usually wait until about 90 minutes before sunset before doing a strenuous hike by going up Cowles’s mountain. I found that the Airedales, are very sensitive to hot weather, and so I go up the east side of the mountain before sunset (and naturally carry a lot of water for the dogs to drink) so they don’t get overheated or heat exhaustion.
Airedales are pretty stoic, and I think they would try to stay up with their human companion, rather than stop and cool down. So, always bring water for them and never hike in the hottest part of the day.
Airedale Terrier Hiking
After being house and yard confined tending to Annie’s nine puppies, we hadn’t been on a hike in about 2 1/2 months. The hike up to the top of Cowles usually takes about 55 minutes for me and Annie. I mentally divide the trail into thirds and the first third and the last third are the toughest.
So our goal on this first hike was to go up the first third of the trail, which we did. Annie did great, but I was pretty slow getting back into hiking shape. The following day after this hike, we went back and went up about halfway on the first third of the trail. That evening I could really feel the tightness in my calves from our two days of short hikes.
We’re going to take our time and probably next week try to set a goal of the second third of the trail and then in two weeks, hopefully will both be in shape to make it back to the top.
After we finished our hike, Annie met a huge one year old bloodhound puppy. This bloodhound puppy weighed more than twice of Annie’s weight. Yes, this big guy was 130 pounds! He was very friendly, but, Annie was nevertheless quite cautious as you can see from the photo
If you want to learn more about one of the best dog hikes in San Diego City, view my detailed video about hiking Cowles Mountain with your dog.
He is swift, formidable, graceful, big of brain, an ideal chum and guard. ….To his master he is an adoring pal. To marauders he is a destructive lightning bolt.”
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