"The Airedale can do anything any other dog can do and then whip the other dog. -- Teddy Roosevelt"
Stated before the German Shepherd came to the fore. ;-)
Airedales are nice, tho, and they were at 1 time useful. ;-D
I remember the story about a military trainer that set up a class of Shepherds to try and reach their handlers behind a high brick wall. The GSD's all tried without fail to go over the wall, and failing, would sit there and whine and bark.
The airedale tried once to go over the wall, stopped and thought, and then went around the wall to reach the handler.
Even after the GSD's were showed how to go around the wall, they still insisted on trying to go over when left to their own devices.
:-)