Olympics day 7

Now if there's one thing the humans in this house disagree on, it's how much football is enough football. So although one of us was hoping to avoid a football tribute, it's inevitable considering there are two bears who never tire of playing it.

There are serious tackles:

some serious teeth:

 and some serious attempts to run over the photographer:

We confess that our Olympic tribute is a little lacking in verve today, because canine chaos has arrived in our house. See the big fella below?

That's Sol, who we have for a couple of weeks every year while his people go on holiday. Well, a day before they were off this time he was hit with a horrible gastric thing that had him vomiting and pooing blood. So for the last week we've been doling out an endless array of tablets that all happen at different points throughout the day, and having to cajole him to eat. We even had to syringe water into his chops as he just wasn't drinking. Well, he's feeling much better now, thank goodness. Meanwhile, his sissy was staying with another family, but she's come into season and they have an entire male... so now we have her too. Daisy is hormonal and can't be let off the lead, Sol is feeling well enough to try to mount her continually (even though he's been 'done') and Digger is having serious issues with mummy's divided attention. Mojo is just being perfect, thank goodness. We're going to need that bottle of Ouzo when our friends get back from Greece!

Walkies looks like Ben Hur's chariot race but with the perfect country collection: two Airedales, a huge lurcher and a spaniel/lab cross. Or as we call them: two bears, a wolf and a beaver.

Wish us luck!

Olympics day 6

The best thing about the Olympics is that you find yourself watching sports you know nothing about and still end up cheering like crazy. I've been fascinated by the judo all week, but today things reached a peak with the finals of the ladies 78kg. I shed a tear or two, for the British woman competing in the memory of her mother, and the American winner who had to overcome appalling circumstances to get there.

Anyway, I still know little about judo. I can tell you that there are points scored for different throws. The lowest points are given for a yuko, which throws the opponent on their side. Here Mojo (at 5 months old) demonstrates how:

The highest points - and an immediate win - is for a ippon, which involves throwing the opponent onto their back. Mojo demontrates here with her pal Harvey:

 

Harvey was only 6 months old in these pics - he's part Saluki and is now twice the size. Even at 6 months he gave as good as he got:

Opponents can signal submission. Either by grinning:

Or by making noises like a whoopee cushion:

It didn't take long for Digger to get the rules. Just squash your sissy and bite!

 

Olympics day 5

So four badminton teams have been disqualified for not trying hard enough. Harrumph! You would never say that about an Airedale. Although Mojo can be selectively deaf on recall unless she sees proof of biscuit rewards.

Anyway, our tribute today has to be swimming, what with Michael Phelps being both awesome in winning and gracious in defeat, and Chad le Clos's father being spectacularly emotional and thrilled.

We're lucky to live next to a canal that has been turned into a country park (for wildlife and people). For the first two years of Mojo's life she would paddle daily but only up to her armpits. In winter she'd lick the ice to try and break through to the wet stuff. Then one day we went up into Dartmoor, got into our swimmies and took her in the deep bit of  the river. The penny dropped, and now we can't keep her out.

We keep a stash of sticks in a tree, and believe me she knows which tree it is. So in she goes.
She always has to turn to the left, probably to do with her left hip being weaker. I'm always amazed she doesn't inhale a gallon of water when carrying sticks back.

Good job Airedales have semi-webbed feet.  I love the periscope tail!

In fact, this next pic makes me wonder if those old sightings of the Loch Ness monster were simply swimming Airedales - the serpent shapes following the high-held head...

Such a happy bear. Luckily she hasn't chased after any ducks yet, but give it time.

Meanwhile, Digger is  absolutely , never ever going to get his belly wet, no-sirree-bob, not on your nelly. Heh heh. What a wimp.

Olympics day 4

I've not had any chance to get out with the camera today so I've trawled the archives for a suitable Olympic tribute. This is from a few years back, and I was laughing too hard to focus, but it's perfect for a nod to the Olympic shooting.

I'm not sure who is more ridiculous, Mojo or the Man (aka The Dog Butler, 'cos he opens all the doors and does all the driving).

We had to hide the water pistol because she used to bark incessantly until we picked it up, and her excited bark is ear-splittingly shrill. It makes me feel like my brain will leak out my ears if exposed to it for too long.

And I had to include this as a bonus pic - this is the face Digger pulled as we tried to set up the shuttlecock shot. Those reproachful eyes! That sad face! My handsome boy.

Olympics - day 3

Yesterday, when I said there was no chance of doing a tribute to the canoe slalom, I forgot about this:

Granted, it's a sheep trough in a sea of grass, but there is water involved. And Mojo being a goofball. I hope it counts.

Right, got to dash, the GB men's gymnastic team are about to win a medal and it's way too exciting.

Olympics day 2

Well, it's day 2 of the Olympics and we've been scratching our collective heads on which sport to feature. The cycling would be tricky without opposable thumbs, even though the capacity for complete chaos is greatly appealing to an Airedale. Digger refuses to get his feet wet so canoe slalom is out. Beach volleyball seemed a possibility until we mentioned bikini at which point he gave us a tragi-comic look and went off to chew his feet.

In the end we went the easy route and had a game of volleyball.

Mojo makes up for her arthritic hips with her superior nose/eye coordination. I'm not entirely sure we could pass them off for a team, though. Once that ball got to ground level it was all bears for themselves. I bet real volleyball players don't puncture all their balls and expect someone to pump them up after every point.

Olympic fever

Woo hoo! The Olympics are finally here! Did you see that opening ceremony? The lighting of the cauldron with the Olympic flame made our hair stand on end, and there's a few in this house who have quite a lot of hair.

Back in May the torch route passed through Devon, but sadly we were unable to get to it. Although there was a niggling thought that two Airedales, running people, fire and national tv crews were a recipe for disaster. We'd just like to state that the 'rogue dog' than ran through the middle of the cycle race today was nothing to do with us.

Anyway, we're still getting into the Olympic spirit. Yesterday just after 8am there was a mass bell ringing, and how could we refuse? Three minutes of Digger losing his mind with excitement. I was laughing too hard to photograph him so I had to re-enact it this afternoon. Yep, he still loved it. I also discovered that he barks at the same rate as my camera shutter fires on continuous release as I ended up with 30 shots which had his mouth shut. Spooky, as I swear his mouth was open and yelling the entire time.

Anyway, he shouldn't think it's all fun and games. Just like the athletes, there is a lot of tension in getting a performance right. Trying to get a shuttlecock to balance on his head is a serious business. There's the added stress of knowing the wide angle lens is going to make his nose look even bigger, too.

We've been really bad at getting round to blogging recently, so we've decided to challenge ourselves to posting daily through the Olympics. The idea is to create an Airedale tribute to a different sport every day. We started with Badminton, which kicked off today. Lightning fast reaction times and chasing after little flying things gets the seal of Airedale approval.

Any other dog-bloggers want to join in? (cat bloggers, hammie bloggers etc too).