Surfing Dog Contest

Early Sunday morning I dragged Briefcase out of the house to go watch the Surf City Surf Dog contest held at Huntington Dog Beach.  My husband may not have been too enthused.  It's horrible being married to me.  If I weren't in his life, Briefcase would have slept away his weekend.  (I'm really a lot of fun.  I swear!) 

The money raised by the dog surfing contest goes to help charities.  What a great concept.  The dogs have a blast.  Their owners have a blast.  The money raised is given to charity.

I had just arrived and the competition had yet to begin when I met, and fell instantly in love with, George.  Briefcase didn't have a chance against George.  Even though he looked a little hungover, George won my heart over the moment we met.  (Please excuse the sand on his nose!)

George is a landseer Newfoundland.  Newfoundlands are often called gentle giants.  They have incredibly sweet dispositions.  George and his owners are from Canada.  When I first met George I thought he was at Dog Beach just to watch the other dogs surf.  Later, to my delight, I discovered George would be competing in the surf contest.  George had learned to surf just the previous day.  George loves the water and his owner, Colin, thought George would enjoy competing.

Before I tell you about the rest of the surfing dog contest, let me tell you a little bit about George.  George is a rescue dog.  George was abused for the first year of his life.  It's hard, and heartbreaking, to imagine anyone abusing a loving dog like him.  His current owner adopted him from a shelter about six months ago when George was only one year old.  George knew instantly he had found safety and love with Colin.  The love between the two of them is palpable.

There were a lot of spectators at the surf contest.  They watched their peers surf, and they kept themselves busy between heats also.

Here's a picture I took later in the day.  George is outfitted in his life jacket and he's headed out to compete.  Colin is leading him out to catch a wave.

George wasn't the best surfing dog of the day.  He's new to the sport.  Also, unlike the experienced surfing dogs, he did not have a custom made doggie surf board which lessens the likelihood of the dog falling off.  George loves to swim though.  He also loves to be on the surfboard, and even enjoys surfing.  What he doesn't like is being away from Colin.  When he sees himself surfing away from Colin he wants to jump off the surfboard and swim back to him.  Considering the abuse Colin saved him from, can you really blame George for wanting to stay close to him?

There was a lot of media coverage of the dog surfing contest.  This camera man very matter of factly asked this dog if he thought his chances were good for a win.  I didn't hear the dog answer, but his posture seems to indicate he felt confident.

The dogs competed in surfing heats.  The smallest dogs competed first, followed by medium sized dogs and then large dogs.  There were some pro-surfer dogs competing too.

The judges made lots of notes.  Dogs got more points if they surfed alone and their owners were not on the board with them.  If a dog was tied to the surfboard they received less points.  If a dog rode a wave all the way into shore they got a lot of points.  If they stood while doing so, instead of sitting or laying down, they got even more points.  Besides the length of a ride, dogs were also scored on their confidence while surfing and the size of the waves they rode.

Here are a few shots of the dogs surfing.  The first is a bulldog named Dover.  Bulldogs seemed to do very well surfing.  There were several of them competing.  They are heavy and low to the ground which helps a lot with balance.

This next photo is of an Australian Kelpie.  Her name is Abbie.  Abbie is a very good surfer.

This next photo is fuzzy (my apologies!) but I thought you'd want to see it anyway.  It's a dog that loves to surf to shore facing backwards.  I think she got extra points for "trick" surfing.

Here's a golden retriever surfing too:

There were a lot of great surfing dogs throughout the day.  By far, though, George was my favorite.  He couldn't wait to get out in the surf even if he's a novice to the sport.  Here's a picture of George sizing up the competition.

When the day was over, George looked a little exhausted.  He had a blast, but several hours at the beach will wipe out anyone.

To be honest, I was pretty tired by the end of the day myself.

© Twenty Four At Heart

Comments

[Deidre]

HOLY CUTENESS. Seriously, George is adorable. I fell in love with a st bernard once - his name was Dozer. We had something special...

Sounds like a great day!

[Joanne]

George is really cute, huge, but cute. I think he might benefit from a visit to your plastic surgeon to fix those droopy eye lids though!! Great post

[stoneskin]

Fantastic photos. Particularly liked the bulldog one. Bulldogs may be good at surfing, but that chap does not look like he's enjoying it.

[Donna in VA]

Aawwhh! The adorable doggy factor has taken my soul and turned it into mush. I would've loved to have been there to see all those doggies surfing! I feel a kinship with people and animals that love the beach as much as I do.
Great story! I hope Briefcase enjoyed himself dispite his apprehension at crawling out of bed.

[Kristan]

Too cute! Gosh, you live near the coolest things (this, the train mooning, etc.).

Btw, I totally thought you were going to say you stole -- er, ADOPTED -- George. :P

[Maureen@IslandRoar]

That George is a heartbreaker!
What a fun way to spend the day.
My fave is the one surfing backwards. He doesn't
want any surprises.

[Kelly]

You've got competition for george. He just won me over too. What a fun day. The dogs are hilarious!

[WebSavyMom]

-->I love George too! My labs love going to the beach and my parents' lake house but they've never been on surfboards before. I wish they did the surf competition in Virginia Beach. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to watch.

~deb
http://www.websavymom.com

[Croneandbearit]

I love the bloodshot eyes of George - looks like he needs a little "hair of the dog" so to speak. The only surfing my EmmaLou does is off the kitchen counter and she never wins prizes even though she's become quite good at her "sport". LOL

[Southern Web Girl]

How fun! I would have loved to have seen that. I think it's time to train your Golden, huh?

[Michelle Pixie]

Awww George melts my heart! Makes me want a puppy...Someday...For now taking care of three little kiddos is going to have to suffice. But what a fun day!

[Jack]

That golden reminds me of my old dog. I miss that big lug, we lost him a few years ago.

[di]

Oh what fun! For dogs and humans. George is just too handsome for words and should have won just for being so daggum CUTE! I'd have voted for him for sure.

Di

[Mad Woman]

Oh I think I might just die from the cute factor. How adorable are they all? You lucky thing!!

[Abbie's Dad]

hi, this is Michael, Abbie's dad. She's an Australian Kelpie, a very athletic and smart working dog breed that is a little uncommon in the States, so if you find one, treasure them! ;)

You can find out more about Abbie at www.abbiesurfs.com. Enjoy.

[Twenty Four At Heart]

Hi Michael! thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you found Twenty Four At Heart. I loved watching Abbie swim. Thanks for the info about her. I've added it back into my post so future readers will know her breed! She was amazing to watch!

[Sarah]

Awww! Too CUTE! All of them. I love Newfies, but only just found out about the Landseer version after hearing about the ginormous one in ND. George is so sweet! I am SO SAD the kids and I didn't know this was going on. We could've been there! I'll have to plan that for next year - drag the poor sad MIL to the beach so she can whine about her hair and the wet dog smell while the kids squeal in delight. Sounds like my kind of day!

[Mark]

Looks like a great time was had by all hanging twenty!

[Pseudo]

You know I loved this.

[Kari-Mel]

OK I now love George! He looks like the best 4 legged companion ever!

[sometimessophia]

Excellent photos. Get George some Visine. And about the bulldog advantage... low center of gravity.