Tag Archives: Dog surfing

Amusing Monday: Deaf pit bull gains confidence while learning to surf

Every year about this time, dogs mount their surf boards to ride the waves in various surfing competitions, and each year new stories seem to emerge about human-canine bonds that grow out of this unusual sport.

Mr. Breakfast is a deaf pit bull who was rescued from the dog-fighting world and became the close companion of Liz Nowell of San Diego. Mr. B, as she calls him, was originally named Briggs. When Liz first fell in love with him, he was withdrawn and had some behavioral problems, as she explains in the first video. But thanks to her patience and understanding, this dog’s world has grown richer and dramatically better.

“Once his name changed to Mr. B, people began to see past his tough-looking exterior to the warm gooey lov-a-bull goof inside,” according to an article in Pit Bull Press. “In the past years, Mr. Breakfast has learned four new signs, learned how to surf and has developed a truly happy nature as our bond has developed.”

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Amusing Monday: Stories of surf dogs and their human companions

Some dogs take to the water more than others, but it’s always great to see the stories behind dogs who excel at surfing — or other feats of athletic skill, agility or mental competence.

One such story involves a surfer dog named Sugar and her human companion Ryan Rustan, who says his dog changed his life in many positive ways. In the first video on this page, Ryan talks about being a surfer who was always quick to anger, an attitude that held him back in school and other endeavors. Things changed for Ryan when he found a hungry dog on the street in need of help. Ryan rescued Sugar, who in turn rescued him.

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Amusing Monday: Surf dogs flip over wild waves in Southern California

The surf was running wild at this year’s Surf City Surf Dog competition at Huntington Beach, Calif., where the boards were flipping and the dogs were flying.

The dogs and their owners were more nervous than normal this year during the three-day event that raises money for nonprofit rescue groups. Crowds turned out in large numbers for the finals, which took place a week ago yesterday.

“It’s a crackup watching the dogs,” spectator Tom Baker told Laylan Connelly, a reporter for the Orange County Register. “The people think the dogs are enjoying it, but I’m not so sure the dogs are enjoying it today. The surf was heavy.”

Lifeguards were on hand to help with any problems, and they advised dog owners when it was safe to go out. The contest had 68 dog entries, and many of them were longtime competitors in the sport. As I watched the first video on this page, I was hoping that the owners knew their dogs and their abilities, along with their own abilities. No injuries were reported, and the images came out more spectacular than ever.

In some ways, the still images are more thrilling than the videos. See this great collection of photos posted by the London Daily Mail.

Here is a highlights video by Mike Lukas and Jerome Mel on the Surf City Surf Dog YouTube channel.

The waves were calmer in July at the annual Unleashed by Petco Surf Dog Competition at Imperial Beach, Calif. The second video on this page is a personal video posted by a couple on Tower magazine.

Another take on the Imperial Beach event is offered on YouTube by Richard Mellinger.

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Amusing Monday: Surf dog connects people to water

A golden retriever puppy named Ricochet was being trained as a service dog, but she was never quite suited for the work. After a period of transition, she became known as a SURF-ice dog. She loves to go surfing and has a special connection with special-needs people.

ESPN reporter Tom Rinaldi captures the story well in an eight-minute video that I bring to you this week, even though the video is a little longer than most that I post on Amusing Monday.

Another video about Ricochet, written by her owner Judy Fridono, explains why it is important for people to find their true destiny. It’s titled, Riding a Wave of Hope with Ricochet, who got her name, by the way, because she was bouncing off the walls with energy when she was a puppy.

Ricochet’s early life is described in more detail in a story by Jenny McCarthy in Woman’s Day magazine. And a question-and-answer session with Judy Fridono was transcribed on the website Animal Fair.

I first learned about and featured dog-surfing competitions in Amusing Monday two years ago. See 1) June 13, 2011 and 2) Oct. 3, 2011.

Updating the competitions, I found a few more amusing videos about dog-surfing:

  • The 2012 Surf City Surf Dog Contest at Dog Beach in Huntington Beach California in a video production by SoCal Beaches Magazine.
  • A new Dog Surfing Competition this year at Juno Beach, Fla., with video from WPTV, West Palm Beach.
  • The long-running Leows Surf-Dog Competition, now in its eighth year, reported by Rachel Smith, Los Angeles correspondent for ABC News.

Last, and perhaps least, Randall was on the scene at the Leows competition this year, offering commentary and conducting interviews with folks on the beach. See the video player below. Randall, who loves to talk about animals, is best known for his off-color commentary regarding the “badass” honey badger.

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Amusing Monday: Surf dogs catch last summer wave

This past summer, I discovered the world of surfing dogs while looking for humorous videos of humans riding waves on their surf boards.

It turns out that this is a serious sport for the dog owners, but I’m still not sure that all the dogs have their hearts in this relatively new competition. Some look less than enthralled while riding the waves and appear to be looking for a good spot to jump off.

As an end-of-summer event in Southern California, the annual Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon was held a week ago at Dog Beach (yes, that’s correct) in Del Mar, Calif.

A Jack Russell terrier named Buddy won the event for the fifth time in the six-year-old competition and became the first dog inducted into the Surf Dog Hall of Fame. See his photo in a Los Angeles Times blog by Tony Perry.

Buddy is also featured in the two videos below showing highlights from the event. The first, by Bryan Rogers, is action-oriented. The second, by B.C. Productions, is a spiffy slide show, mixing some nice stills with video clips.

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