Hi. I’m Mark Howitz from Buffalo Grove, IL northwest of Chicago. I have been owned by or been associated with Terriers my entire life. Between my own family and my immediate relatives, we have had two Wire Fox terriers, two Wheatons, two Scotties, assorted mixes and five Airedales, four of which currently dictate my day. I first became involved with Airedales about 20 years ago when one moved in next door. He was 95 pounds of alpha male, from Moscow, Russia, and was a talker. He understood both English and Russian so he used his typical Airedale selective hearing to ignore commands in two languages. One day he escaped and came running straight towards me. I was not familiar with this breed so I held my ground not knowing what to expect. He came running, rammed that huge head into my stomach, tongue out, tail wagging, looking to be petted. This I accommodated and also gave him a dog cookie which I had with me. From that day on, we were buddies. His name was Paluska, AKA Pal, and he would stay with us when his owners would leave for the weekends. My wife, Carol, and I both agreed that we just had to get one of these.
Since I retired, I have spent most of my free time with Airedale rescue. The disadvantage (if you can call it that) is that you tend to accumulate dogs in rescue. I currently have four Airedales, two of which are foster failures. My latest foster failure is Truman, a two year-old who underwent dual hip dysplasia surgery (TPO) last year and is currently in training for his animal assisted therapy certificate at the local hospital. The personalities of my fab four are as varied as their individual physical characteristics. They can best be described using a football analogy. Jethro would be my big, bad middle linebacker since he is built like a pit bull, acts tough but is all bluff, Emma would play wide receiver with moves Adrian Peterson would envy, Truman would be an offensive lineman because he is so expert in getting the way, and Murray, who has no athletic ability whatsoever, would be a cheerleader. I am looking forward to working with everyone and helping Airedales, who so desperately deserve it, find great new furever homes.
