Dog surfing
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Dog surfing is a type of surfing maneuver involving dogs that are trained to surf on surfboards, bodyboards, skimboards,
windsurf Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing g ...
boards or to bodysurf. Historically, surfing dogs have been documented as occurring as early as the 1920s in the United States. Competitions and exhibitions that feature surfing dogs have occurred in various coastal areas of the United States, such as
Del Mar, California Del Mar (; Spanish for "Of the Sea") is a beach town in San Diego County, California, located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Established in 1885 as a seaside resort, the city incorporated in 1959. The Del Mar Horse Races are hosted on the ...
,
Imperial Beach, California Imperial Beach is a residential beach city in San Diego County, California, with a population of 26,324 at the 2010 census. The city is the southernmost city in California and the West Coast of the United States. It is in the South Bay area ...
and
Jupiter, Florida Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 Census, the town had a population of 61,047 as of April 1, 2020. It is 84 miles north of Miami, and the northernmost community in the Miami met ...
.


Overview

Dog surfing involves dogs that are trained to surf on surfboards or
bodyboard Bodyboarding is a water sport in which the surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the invention of the "Boogie ...
s, either alone or with a human on the board. Some dogs have been trained to ride a skimboard on the shore (after the board is initially skimmed by a human) and to windsurf with a human, and bodysurfing dogs have also been documented in surfing media.


History

Dog surfing has been documented as occurring in the 1920s in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
and
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
.Goldish 2012, p. 8. In the 1930s, a silent film titled ''On The Waves in Waikiki'' depicts Phillip K. Auna and Night Hawk, his terrier, surfing together on a wooden surfboard in Hawaii.Goldish 2012, p. 9. The terrier was able to perform the
hang ten "hang ten" is a nickname for any of several maneuvers used in sports, especially surfing, wherein all ten toes or fingers are used to accomplish the maneuver. * surfing: the surfer stands and hangs all their toes over the nose of the board. Usu ...
surfing maneuver on the surfboard. In 1944, a full page image of a surfing dog named "Rusty" was published in ''National Geographic'' magazine.Warshaw, Matt (2005)
''The Encyclopedia Of Surfing''
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 159.
In the 1950s, UPI published a photograph of Joseph "Scooter Boy" Kaopuiki and his dog Sandy surfing in Hawaii, which was published in newspapers throughout the United States. During this time, they were also reported about on the television show ''You Asked For It!''. Dave Chalmers and his surfing terrier mix named Max, both from San Diego, California, were featured in several forms of media in the late 1970s through the 1980s, including surf movies and a television appearance on the show ''Amazing Animals''. A Labrador Retriever named Cam was documented in
Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island o ...
surfing partially lying down while simultaneously drinking from a bottle of beer.


Competitions

In dog surfing competitions, judging criteria may include the dog's overall certainty on the board, wave size and ride length. The Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition at Imperial Beach in California has been described as the largest dog surfing competition in the United States. The first competition was held in 2006. In 2011, over fifty dogs participated, and the competition categorized entries by small dogs, large dogs and tandem dogs. Tandem surfing involves two or more dogs surfing together on one surfboard, or a dog surfing with a human. In June 2012, fifty dogs participated, and three ''
Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
'' were broken, including a new record of eighteen for the most dogs photographed on a surfboard. The Imperial Beach Dog Surf Competition is also a fundraiser event for the San Diego Humane Society. An annual dog surfing competition titled "Surf City Surf Dog competition" is held in Huntington Beach, California in late September. The first competition occurred in October 2009. The event is free to attend. Besides the surf competitions, visitors can enjoy the surFUR expo. In 2012, the Incredible Dog Challenge dog surfing competition was held in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
. Since 2012, the Noosa Festival of Surfing held each March in the
Shire of Noosa The Shire of Noosa is a local government area about north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast district of South East Queensland, Australia. The shire covers an area of . It existed as a local government entity from 1910 until 2008, when it wa ...
has played host to the Surfing Dog Championship sponsored by local busines
VetShopAustralia.com.au
The event was formerly known as the Surfing Dog Spectacular and was renamed the Surfing Dog Championships in 2017 in recognition of the increased calibre of participants. The Noosa Surfing Dog Championships is an invitational event, where dogs and humans work together on stand up paddle boards (SUPs) with the prize chosen by surfing legends such as Layne Beachley, and given to the dog/person combination that catches the best wave.Surfingdogspectacular.com
Accessed December 2015.
The winner of the 2021 event, was a Pug called Pickles, surfing with Dan Bleicher. The 2022 event is slated for Saturday, 5 March at 2:30pm. In July 2013, the Big Dog Ranch Rescue in
Wellington, Florida Wellington is a village just west of West Palm Beach in Palm Beach County and north of Miami. As of 2019, the city had a population of 65,398 according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates, making it the most populous village in the state. It is th ...
presented its first "Surfs Up, Dogs" competition as a fundraiser for the non-profit organization. The competition was held in Jupiter, Florida. The World Dog Surfing Championships, a Northern California event, have been held at Pacifica, California since 2016. In September, 2019 , "SUP for Pups Intracoastal Challenge", a competitive 5K event took place at Pioneer Park in
Deerfield Beach, Florida Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859. It is a principal ...
.


See also

*
Horse surfing Horse surfing is an extreme sport invented in 2005. It requires two people, a horse, and a board. Horse surfing involves one person riding either a kite-board, surfboard, wake-board, or skim-board, while being towed behind a horse, ridden by a ...
– involves one person riding either a; kite-board, surfboard, wake-board or skim-board, while being towed behind the horse, the horse being ridden by the second person, through shallow water * Index of surfing articles *
List of dog sports Dog sports are sports in which dogs participate. Herding sports * Herding * Sheepdog trial * Treibball Obedience sports * Heelwork to music * Musical canine freestyle * Obedience trial * Rally obedience Protection sports * Schutzhund ( ...
*
Skateboarding dog There are several skateboarding dogs whose exploits have been featured upon TV, websites and other media. Skateboarding dog stories are commonly used at the end of news bulletins as human interest stories. Bulldogs are especially good at this a ...
*
Surf Dog Ricochet Ricochet (January 25, 2008 – March 31, 2023) was a female Golden Retriever dog from San Diego. She was one of the original surfing dogs that started the whole dog surfing circuit. She entered her first surf dog competition when she was 15 mont ...


References


Bibliography

* Goldish, Meish (August 1, 2012)
''Surf Dog Miracles''
Bearport Publishing.


Further reading

*


External links

{{Commons category, Dogs surfing, Dog surfing
Surf Dog Ricochet

Surf Dogs USA



VetShopAustralia Surfing Dog Spectacular Noosa Australia
Surfing Dog sports Dogs in popular culture Dog training and behavior