Airedales, Airedales Everywhere

Yay! The weather today was excellent which was such a relief after all the rain we've had for the last 10 days or so, so off we went to meet all my Airedale buddies from our regional Airedale Club. I was a very lucky boy, because mum drove for an hour and three quarters so that I could go. Thanks mum, I love you lots! Dad stayed at home as Em & Jess were at our house (that's dad's girls).

There were about 20 - 25 Airedales there I think. We were last to arrive, oops. When we got out of the car there were Airedales as far as the eye could see, it was fantastic!

The place we went to walk was in a place called Holford in the Quantock Hills and it was really beautiful - well mum says it was, I was too busy playing with my friends to pay much attention to the scenery!

Here's Milo. If you have been reading my blog for a while you will remember we met at a show back in February, then again last month at the grooming class. He is about 2 weeks younger than me.

Splish splash! The water was crystal clear and nice and cool so we wasted no time going in for a paddle.

All of us loved the water so we had a blast frolicking around. All of us had to cross the stream twice during the walk, so the hoomans had to get their feet a bit wet. None of us were worried about that though!

Lots of the photos mum took were blurry, even with the camera on "sports" mode. Well, who wants to stand around posing when you could be playing?!

This is one of the places we had to cross the river. As you can see, some Labradors and a Border Collie came with us too. All the Border Collie wanted was for someone to throw a stick for him, and he kept dropping it at all the hoomans feet in the hope they would throw it for him!



How cool is it to see all us Airedales together? Quite a few other people were out walking or cycling through the woods and they tended to do a double take when they saw us all, hehehe!

Here are some of the others. I didn't get everyone's name as there were just too many of us. Some of the older dogs weren't too keen on us younger pups. I guess we are all a bit full on at playing for the older guys and girls. I'm sure they were just like us once upon a time.

There was lots of good smells in the woods. The hoomans had been told to be vigilant as there are sometimes sheep and deer in the woods, so sometimes we had to go on our leads when the view ahead wasn't clear. As well as the sheep and deer, some horsies must have been through, as there was lots of delicious horsie poop to snack on, yummy!

Aha, time for another refreshing dip! Sunshade would have been in her element as there were hundreds or rockies in the stream!

Here's little Willow who was at the grooming class last month. She has grown so much since then!

Another dip! Well, I had got a bit muddy so I was just having a clean off - honest mum!

Here's some video of the four musketeers! Me and Archie have our red harnesses on, Milo has a red double collar, and Rupert has a blue tag. I think we're all going to be great buddies and enjoy growing up together.



Milo had to go back on his lead every so often for "time out" as he was hump-hump-humping, naughty Milo!

We found a nice shady spot to stop and have a rest. We were all happy, but those hoomans have no stamina!

Here's Rupert. He is beautifully hand stripped. Mum says if she can ever do me that well she'll be very happy! We are off to class again next Sunday so we'll see!

Here are us Four Musketeers again. That's Archie's daddy snapping away. He is going to email mum his photos, so we may have some more good ones - or maybe just more black and tan blurs!

There was lots of butt sniffing going on! As usual, I was getting humped by them all, but I'm a nice boy and don't get too worried by it. They all still have their boy bits so there was lots of testosterone going on. Archie is having his operation soon though, poor Archie. I warned him about the dreaded lampshade.

Can you spot the token Labrador in amongst all the Airedales?

Here are some of the older guys and gals. By the halfway point of the walk they were all pretty pooped, but us young ones were still ready for more! The little babies like Willow and another little puppy called Gunner only did the first part of the walk, then went to wait for us in a cafe.

Mum really likes this photo of me and Milo. She thinks we both look full of mischief!

Rupert isn't that much younger than me, but as you can see, I am a fair bit bigger than him. I am a lot fluffier, but I am taller too. It was interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes, short and long hair, short and long tails today.

Mmm, as well as horsie poop, there was also some delicious rabbit chocolate drops to munch on!

We were all running in and out of the water at every available opportunity. All the hoomans were saying it was wonderful to see us all running free together and having such fun.

As usual I was on the lookout for a good stickie and I hit the jackpot with this one! Mum said there was no way she was carrying this one all the way back to the car though, boo.

This was Archie having a big yawn at the end of the walk! Don't you just love his curly tail?

And here I am looking pretty pooped too! I had a good old sleep in the car on the way home I can tell you. I can't wait until next Sunday when I get to see Archie, Rupert and Milo again, as well as some of the others no doubt. It's just a shame that grooming is going to get in the way of having a good old play!

Licks

Oscar x