Digger

This blog used to just for Mojo. But then so did the dog food.

Meet Digger aka "Captain Cuddle".

Handsome, yes? He's going to be a year old in two weeks. He's already 30kg and in the full throes of adolescence. Poor boy fell desperately in love with Mojo this week - triggered by them both having a bath and coming up fragrant with cinnamon dog shampoo. Nothing rude going on, just heartbreaking, obsessional luuuuurve. But I get ahead of myself.

Here's how it started. Mojo is really into other dogs, and we're really into her (she's awesome, like all Dales). We kept talking about another puppy but never doing anything about it, until we saw an ad within reasonable distance. We went to have a look. Just a look. Let's gloss over the fact we stopped at the bank to get the entire amount required. And took the cat basket just in case.

Anyway, he's one of 10 pups brought up in a lovely home. We could have stayed there all day.

We chose the calmest, cuddliest boy. He was earmarked for someone else, but they weren't even going to come and see him. They lived in one of the poshest parts of central London and were going to sent the chauffeur down to collect him. Imagine! Wonder how long he would have lasted till he was returned to the breeder.

So back we came with a little brother for Mojo, just in time for her birthday.

She turned out to be the most exceptional mother-substitute (once she got over the shock). It's like she grew up overnight. And gained a few white hairs in the process. Here's Day 2 with Digger literally running rings around her.

What's really strange is that I have a picture of Mojo with Digger's dad. Here's Mojo at 5 months checking out Gunner's posterior.

Funny old world.

walkies

At last I've got Mum to pull her finger out and sort out the photos from the Airedale Club walk. That was two weeks ago!! So it is kind of old news, but thought you might like to see some of them.

This was another outing with WESWATC (West of England and South Wales Airedale Terrier Club). A lovely lady called Jackie sorted out a route along the River Parrett in the Somerset Levels, from Langport to Muchelney Abbey. There were probably about 20 Airedales there, plus a few other dogs too. Heaven!

The fun begins in the car park



The guy steaming in from the left there is called Dylan (or is it Dillon). I've never met him before but he seemed to end up in nearly every photo Mum took that day. He was fixated on me and Poppy, a girly a little younger than me. Likes the little fillies, methinks. Mum says he's like that boy you meet at the school disco who is really nice but won't let you chat to anyone else all night and you end up trying to hide from him.

It was so funny looking at the expressions of people walking towards us down the path. They really couldn't believe their eyes to see so many Hairydales in one place.



Once we got to the fields, a lot of us were let off the lead. You won't be surprised to learn that I am one of the frontrunning pack leaders.



See the smile on my face? Oh look, there's Dylan again.



Did someone mention river?



And Willow (front left) was groomed to perfection ready for a show. Here she has a quick snack of cow poo to brighten her teeth before going for the mud therapy.

The cows on the other riverbank got in the swing and kept pace.



I suppose we were quite an arresting cavalcade.



Mummy cleans up after me. Oh, and there's Dylan supervising.



We paused by the second bridge, and Dylan was, shall we say, omnipresent. So I thought I'd show him a wrestling move or two. It takes a while to figure this picture out, but I have my jaws upside down with his left ear held in a killer grip.



Thing is, he just didn't mind. I suppose he thought it was the way to my heart. Doesn't he realise that teenage girls can be terribly cruel to nice but clingy boys?

Once at Muchelney Abbey we made ourselves comfortable in the lovely grassy courtyard.





I got to play my special trick on a few grown Dales. You know, the one where you lie down in a submissive posture, get 'em to all come in and look closely at you... then snap grab 'em.



Afterwards I apologised, of course. The smaller pup on the left of this picture is Poppy. You may remember her from the Airedale Fun Day pics I posted a while back - she was the puppy completely wrapped in toilet paper.



Poppy is a cutie, and along with my best mate Ruby, we're the youngest pupsters here. For some reason I haven't got pics of Ruby from this walk though. Very annoying, as she is looking so great. She has a great jaunty bossy walk that makes her completely adorable. Ah well, it'll have to wait till our next gathering.

So there you go. Airedale overload. What always amazes my parents is how so many feisty Airedales can be in one place without trouble. Sure, the males sometimes make a big noise at each other, but it is all showing off. I've got more pics on my Flickr account if you want.




One last thing. You may remember this pic of the lovely Nigel that I met at the Fun Day back in September:



I learnt that he has since passed away. I've only heard the details through others, but I believe he had a tumour that suddenly caused him to be desperately ill. He was such a lovely boy that I feel very sad, especially for his family. He is currently on the Wikipedia page for Airedales, so has a little posthumous fame.

trimming class

On Sunday we went back to where last week's Airedale Club fun day was held. This time it was to their trimming classes so Mum and Dad can figure out how to prevent me becoming a woolly mammoth. I've been doing a merino sheep impression lately and they thought it was time to release my inner Airedale.

So without any warning whatsoever I was put up on a trimming table and a lady snipped off all the heavy hair from my ears. Dad let out an audible gasp as he is very fond of my puppy curls. But as one of my ears is not standing up properly, they need to take the weight off. If that doesn't work, there are dark mutterings about gluing my ears and I DO NOT like the sound of that at all.

I'm not posting a pic of my trimmed ears yet. I am so shy. My parents keep looking at me and laughing, saying they don't recognise me. I don't recognise myself! I'm still a work in progress, waiting for proper grooming tools to arrive in the post. When I get my courage up I will show you the new me.

Here's two pics from the trimming class. When not on the table, we all got to charge around together and wrestle.

We all got to meet Saffie for the first time - she's 7 months old and her parents are concerned that she is still a little mouthy. So we thought we'd get her on the floor for a bit of socialisation, and she loved every minute. I'm the one on the left. You can spot me by the curly tail - I was born a couple of weeks after the tail-docking ban came into effect, so I'm one of the first Airedales around with a full-length plume.

An apocalypse of Airedales

What a weekend. First there was Chilli's party (what a blast!) then I went to my friend Rooster's house for a dog training session. (I've got a great photo from that but I'll have to post that another day).

Then on Sunday my parents had a wild surprise in store. They popped me in the car and an hour later arrived at a village hall. It was FULL OF AIREDALES!!!! Wooo hooo! I've never met another 'dale since leaving my litter, and here I was at the annual fun day of the West of England and South Wales Airedale Terrier Club.

I peed the floor with excitement straight away, not least because I was being sniffed by a very handsome young boy called Gunner. Then I headbutted the table from underneath and sent coffee all over the posters that were about to be hung up. But no-one cared!

Here's a pic of me sniffing Gunner's bum while he checks out Nigel.



I had the most fabulous time. Not only getting to meet huge grown up man-dales, but even little puppies much smaller than me. Mum and Dad realised how suddenly I've become big when they saw the little pup-girls.

We didn't just stand around, though. We played games!

First up was musical chairs. You can't see me in this pic as I'm right at the back.

This pic shows stupid mummy (blue top) trying to sit on some poor boy. The boy is laughing but his dog is looking seriously affronted.

Next up was the Egg and Spoon Race. Dad got a real serious look on his face. Ultra competitive. With a shout of 'vamos' we were off - and won our heat.

Here's heat two - one smart dog has decided to run on his own, while Brillo is towing his mum.

The finals were won by Nigel, despite his mum dropping the ball.

The most amazing thing about Nigel is that he is totally blind. He had a degenerative retina condition and was blind by six years old - he is now ten and a half. My mum really fell for him as he is the most noble, calm and gentle dog. And if you didn't see his eyes you wouldn't guess he couldn't see.

My mum also fell in love with Ruby, who is a supersweet ball of fluff a bit younger than me. Mum's camera just kept turning her way.

She has had severe medical issues and is on constant medication, so she is a bit smaller for her age than she ought to be. But she is such a delight, and we hope to meet up with her again soon.

We played a ridiculous game of Mummies. People race the clock to wrap their dogs up in toilet paper like a mummy. Most dogs oblige.

Nigel looks like a Crusader Knight.

Even this gorgeous little pup (I think she's called Ellie) took it like a champ.

Poppy the puppy lay back and thought of England.

Not me.

Every piece that Dad got on me I removed before he got the next one going. Just call me Houdini. He was laughing so hard every shred of his dexterity deserted him.

Sorry, this is turning into a looong post.

I met Jess, who looked so much like me we had to check we weren't related. She's one month older than me, and after the smooching...

... came the wrassling. Stanley would be proud of me. I'm on top, by the way.

Next up was fancy dress. I thought I would just be watching as my Mum and Dad didn't organise a costume. But then the most amazing thing happened. I met Oscar's mum and dad, Katy and Martin, and Katy had brought with her the costume Oscar would have worn if he had been able to be here. It was made by the fair hand of Butchy and Snickers' mum. And I got to wear it!

It was a bit big so my trousers fell off if I walked, but I looked so splendid I won third prize! Big kisses to Katy, and to Oscar too. I can't fill his shoes, but I hope that somewhere he was looking down and laughing too.

Here's the first prize duo. She looks like a shotgun bride and he looks like he can't wait for the party to be over and the wedding night to begin.

There were other games too, like Hunt the Sausage and Best Groomed, and an agility course too. Katy took me round the agility because my parents were too boring. Actually, I think Dad was still knackered after his Egg and Spoon exertions and Mum was as usual holding the camera. I was a bit all over the place, but it was still fun.

I didn't enter the best groomed because I am a woolly mammoth at the moment.

Anyway, I had five hours of crazy Airedale fun, then we went home grinning. Mum and Dad thought I would be worn out, so we went to the pub. but there I met a Jack Russell puppy called Norman and we went bonkers. A whirling crazy ball of excited puppies. I always have energy for fun!

This weekend we may go back to the Airedale Club as they are holding a grooming class. I'll be able to see Ruby again. Aroooooo!

Wish you were all able to come play with me too!