Old Banjo, good read.

This story from a friend on the "Traditional Working Airedale" board I am a member of. Good story I laugh every time I read it. Thanks Todd!

I put this in this section not because Banjo was a great Airedale . But because He was my first Airedale as an adult. In the early 80s I was a coon dog huntin Fullcry readin fool. I traded dogs like people changed underwear and was reading Henrys articles on Airedales and had to find one. I took a year off of the mines to breed (AI) cows and spent more time searching for and trading dogs than breeding cows.
I pull into this farm in Latrobe one day and this wooly dirty Airedale pup that's tied to the milk house is just barking his ass off . I go into breed the cow and ask the guy about the dog. He says that's Banjo. His sister bought it in Ohio and had to get rid of it so she gave it to him as a farm dog. Its been tied there eversense. If you want it take it. I have his papers and everything. You all know when someone is eager to give you anything There's a problem. So I took him home Bathed him got all the crud combed out. and he wasn't a bad looking 9 month old pup.
I told my wife I would make a house / coon dog out of him. Hell the guy said his sister housebroke him. Piece of cake. So I put him in a cage in the basement and went to bed. As soon as I got out of site the barking started. Shut up. Didn't work. Shut up and smack the cage. didn't work. Brought him up tied him to my bed layed right down. Hour later the wife wakes me. Banjos loose. Chewed threw the leash. Got a little dog chain. laying in bed you can here him chewing on the dresser. No. Didn't work. No and smacked his nose. Didn't work. I take him back and put him in his cage. And the baking starts all over again. I take him outside and he has all the coon hounds barking. Shuut UUP. Works for the hounds. Not banjo. I put him in my pickup with the camper on it. Drive him to the top of my field and walk home. Got up the next morning could still hear him barking. So I go to work. Come home walk up there and He was barked out . He couldn't make a squeak. And it fixed him. In fact he hardly ever barked again ever.
As a coon dog he was almost a complete failure. But as a kill dog wow. He wouldn't leave your side till you got to the tree. Then he would fight everything off the tree and wait for the kill. Every hound I had at the time was terrified of him. And when that 22 cracked. Watch out. He bit tree's. He bit dogs tied to Tree's. He bit scared humans trying to climb trees. Nothing was safe until that coon hit the ground. Then he would crunch it's scull and shake it till the guts came out. I clubbed him silly but you wasn't getting that coon off him till he was done destroying it. You was lucky to get a foot and maybe a tail buy the time he was tired of it. He also liked to bay gas wells at night growl and bark at anything he couldn't smell but could see and eat skunks like dog treats also. I didn't have a coon huntin buddy left that would go with me if I was taking Banjo. So down the road he went. And I cant even remember where. I did later go to source shortly after that and got a good one from Henry. Just had that in my mind. I'm sure any of you who's been in the dog game for a while can relate . TK