It was January in 1987 when we first met the Airedale puppy. I and my husband Takemi had never seen Airedales before even an adult Airedale. Although we had had a Beagle already, Takemi was getting interested in becoming an Airedale owner. One day, we found the breeding information on Airedale puppies in a dogs magazine and went to see the puppies. We didn't intend to buy any but immediately he fell in love with one of them which was 70 days old.

An hour later, we, the Beagle Bill and the puppy girl were in the car. Takemi looked very happy but I was worried she would soon become as big as her mother. I wished she would stay as a puppy forever. Bill looked worried, too. Bill was only 8 months old at that time and didn't know how to deal with the puppy girl which behaved arrogantly. Anyway we named her Peri and she became a member of our family. Next day, after I came home from shopping, Peri was not there. I wondered what had happened to her and looked for her in the house. At the moment, I heard her crying sadly from upstairs. I was surprised that such a small dog could climb up the stairs to look for somebody. There were a lot of her wastes on the carpet. When she saw me, she stepped on her wastes and ran to me wagging. Needless to say I also fell in love with her as I huggd her tightly. Our life has been changed drastically since then.

Peri(CH. Audrey of Oak Kennels )had a sire, Eng.CH. Deerhunter of Saredon, and many good qualities. I attended the trimming seminar of the club we used to belong to. The instructor saw through her quality. We were persuaded to take her to a show, where she got first place in her class. And then we were fascinated by showing. Finally Peri completed championship when she was 6 years old. We started the breeding in 1989 when Peri was 3 years old. Peri had five babies and we kept a girl with red ribbon and named her Red(Affetto Milky Way of Wilderness). We used to take her to the show but unfortunately she grew up too big and didn't have terrier spirit. She was very quiet and just a dog for companion. Peri was mated with Eng.CH.Saredon Start The Fire and had seven babies when she was 6 years old. We kept a girl and named her Roughty(Barcelona Bloom of Wilderness). Roughty was active in some shows and Takemi improved in trimming and showing. We didn't find any the dog which should mate with her until she became 6 years old. At last Roughty was mated with Saredon El Galo. She had lovely eight babies but we didn't keep any of them. Meanwhile Takemi was transferred to the head office in Tokyo. We started going up and down between two houses in Tokyo and Aichi which is 350km from Tokyo. We always use our car for moving which allows only four dogs in. That's why we couldn't keep another puppy. I was so sorry Peri's line didn't keep.

The club we used to belong to was gradually changed in those days. Most of the committees enjoyed Airedales as a hobby, but some committee members were business breeders as well. Takemi and the business breeders disagreed about the way in the club. At last we and some members who agreed with us decided to quit the club and started a new Airedale club in 1997. That is Airedale Terrier Club of Japan.
We hadn't had any Airedale information from overseas before. However we came to know some overseas Airedale fanciers through the Internet. Some of them were Airedale breeders and they gave us a neat answers to our questions about Airedales. We learned about Airedales more and embarked on Airedale way in the world. We have had close relations with them, among them are Martin&Alaine Lockett and we have always exchanged email. Their Airedale, Roxy(Eng.CH. Jaideld Gypsy Girl)achieved remarkable results in some shows, her memorable carrier was winning BOB at Crufts 1998. Roxy was very beautiful, she had a short back, good color, perfect movement and true Terrier spirit. When she had babies, I picked a girl which would be our new foundation bitch. A puppy girl flew to Japan alone in the autumn of 1998. We called her Maple(CH.Jaideld Gypsy Queen of Wilderness) because the autumn leaves in Japan were very beautiful, especially Maple leaves in that year.

The Airedale Terrier Millennium Celebration was held in West Yorkshire England on the weekend of June 23rd to 25th 2000. Takemi and I participated in the event and Takemi entered the championship show as a handler. It was a wonderful experience for him to handle the Airedale at the show in England. And the great pleasure to us was seeing many overseas friends who we had only known through e-mail. I am sure our getting together on the weekend deepened our friendships. Visiting England had a great effect on us. The following year, we built a new house in the mountain so that we can give our dogs the terrific surroundings. And we decided to have a puppy boy as a future stud dog. I flew back to England myself to see our first puppy boy at Robroyd's. He was 35 days old at that time and I named him Willow(CH. Robroyd Zodiac)and his sire is Eng.CH. Robroyd Granite. I will never forget those lovely trips and the friends who welcomed me.

In 2001, Maple became the champion and she was mated with Eng.CH. Saredon Fire Dance and she had nine babies in the summer. We kept a lovely girl and named her Diane. Willow and Diane were 6 months years apart and grown up like a brother and sister. Willow got the crown in the spring of 2003, followed Diane in the autumn of the same year. The owners of Maple's offsprings also enjoy showing and their lives with them. We will mate Maple with Willow this autumn again and we will certainly keep a girl this time. It would be our pleasure to produce puppies with good temperaments, terrier spirit, good movement and construction. And we do hope to see real Wilderness Airedales in the future.

Beagle Bill, Airedales Peri and Red passed away already, and now we have four Airedales Roughty, Maple, Willow and Diane. Takemi, I and our dogs enjoy two different life styles, in the mountain and Tokyo. The dogs behave quiet as if they didn't exist when we are in low, while they are excited like a clown when we are cheerful. They are wise, stubborn and naughty. We love so much what they are and we are pleased being together with.

Shino Sugimoto