Walter Lingo - Dog Breeder

Dog Breeder

Lingo bred his first litter when he was 9 years old in 1900. Over time he bred and sought to create a stronger type of Airedale. His efforts resulted in the King Oorang breed of Airedale dogs. Lingo described the King Oorang as the "world's great all-around dog." Upon creating the King Oorang breed, Lingo embarked on a mail order business, selling his puppies to people throughout the Americas. Lingo spent most of his time breeding and training his championship Oorang Airedale dogs in LaRue. He expanded his breeding program expanded to meet the enormous demand for Airedales by selling up to a thousand Airedale bitches to farmers throughout Ohio. Lingo took back the bitches for breeding and whelping, then returned them to their owners, while buying back the pups at a pre-agreed price. Lingo then resold the pups to buyers throughout the country. Reportedly Walter sold up to 15,000 Airedales per year, and by the mid-1920s he claimed to be spending $2000 per month on advertising.

Over time, the Oorang Kennel Company and its Oorang Airedales became known throughout the world. He donated a stud dog for Red Cross work in Europe to the military during World War I, then, after the war, promoted in advertising for the purpose of breeding. He also gave away dogs as a promotion to winners of contests, silent film stars, baseball players, and two were given to the editor of Field & Stream magazine, who favored the kennel with complimentary ads and even a fictional book or two, featuring Oorang Airedales.

However many of Lingo's neighbors described the Airedales as killers. These neighboring farmers accused the Oorang Kennels of raising a nation of sheep killers. This public relations disaster, prompted Lingo to enlist the aid of celebrities to endorse his dogs. He invited celebrities, such as Ty Cobb of the Detroit Tigers, boxer Jack Dempsey, actor Gary Cooper, Tris Speaker of the Cleveland Indians, and Olympic sprinter Charles Paddock to LaRue to hunt with him and his dogs. Perhaps, Lingo's most famous supporter was Jim Thorpe, the celebrated athlete of the 1920s. With no reluctance at all, Thorpe came to Lingo's aid by testifying that he once knew an Oorang Airedale that had saved a 6-year-old girl's life. After that, Lingo and Thorpe became hunting buddies.