Dreary dog days of summer sets the hounds a singin' and a swingin'

THE MAGPIE: MAGPIE HAD cause this week to go hunting for a photograph of a dog to illustrate something altogether more serious…

THE MAGPIE:MAGPIE HAD cause this week to go hunting for a photograph of a dog to illustrate something altogether more serious than this particular weekly dollop of frivolity. And in the process of that search, there emerged an extraordinary number of totally loopy photos of the animal.

(Actually, it's not all that extraordinary because Magpie thinks people are fairly loopy about animals most of the time so it's only to be expected that this will be reflected in the shots news agencies sent to newspapers. Especially in August.)

Anyhow, Magpie thought it was worth sharing two of these photos with the wider readership of The Irish Times seeing as elsewhere in the paper they're only interested in war, global warming, crosswords, politics and the like.

The first photo shows Hollywood, a Bishon Frieze, during his audition for a dog choir which is due to give a special performance at Swansea's National Waterfront Museum on October 5th.

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Hollywood's party piece is (you've guessed, I can tell) Hooray for Hollywood, Richard Whiting's ditty from the 1937 film, Hollywood Hotel, now long forgotten. According to Grace Davies, who is helping organise the Swansea project in memory of Swansea Jack, a flat-coated retriever awarded medals in the 1930s for rescuing people drowning in the local docks, some of the auditioning dogs were natural performers while others were hit by stage fright.

"Their 'voices' were triggered by a variety of sounds ranging from a mobile phone ringtone to the Coronation Street theme tune and a Pavarotti rendition of Puccini's Nessun Dorma.

"A Bassett Hound named Edward proved an accomplished bass baritone capable of howling continuously, and Zac the Border Collie's sing-along style was noted by the judges."

The second photo shows Chela, a 3½-year-old German Pointer. Chela's party piece is to don boxing gloves and attempt to biff her trainer, police office Cesar Chacaliaza of Peru.

Chela is, apparently but not surprisingly, the only dog in Peru, if not the world, who knows how to box. Magpie dearly hopes she gets as good as the Irish Olympic team and KOs Cesar one of these days.

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Meanwhile, Birmingham City Council distributed 720,000 leaflets that praised residents for exceeding recycling targets, carrying a message that read: "Thank You Birmingham" stamped across a photograph of the Birmingham skyline . . . Birmingham, Alabama that is.

"We accept that the wrong photo was used but the text and detail contained in the leaflet is wholly correct which is the most important message as we strive to further improve our green credentials," said a council official.

A novice monk was arrested in Germany this week after he tried to give away money as part of his religious training. Shoppers raised the alarm when 37-year-old Daniel Weiss stood in a shopping centre giving away €50 notes and blessing people in Goettingen.

Police let him off after they had checked to see if the notes were forgeries.

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And finally, given this week's mainly animal theme, we learn that a disabled tortoise has found love after being given her own set of wheels. Arava arrived as a new resident at Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo a few months ago, but staff quickly realised her rear legs were paralysed. Weighing 25 kilograms, the 10-year-old tortoise wasn't strong enough to move herself using her front legs.

So, staff built Arava a unique skateboard-cum-wheelchair by strapping a metal board to her stomach with wheels attached. Zookeepers reckon Arava's renewed mobility has improved her quality of life no end.

She has even attracted the attention of an amorous male tortoise and the pair have begun mating.