The World Surfing Dog Championships returned to San Francisco on Saturday (August 2) with almost 20 pups taking part.
The annual contest takes place on Pacifica State Beach and draws thousands of spectators, all excited to watch the dogs competing against their peers for a chance to win. In some of the heats, multiple dogs surfed in tandem, while in others, they rode with people.
Judges noted how long the dogs remained on their boards, how long they could hold their balance, and whether they performed any tricks – some dogs could even turn around while surfing.
The winners all walked away with medals (and no doubt some of the best dog treats), but it was Cacau, a Labrador from Brazil, who retained her title of grand champion from last year.
Iza, a five-year-old French Bulldog, won the single surfer heat for medium-size dogs for the first time, with her dog dad David Fasoli telling the Associated Press he found “pure joy” when he taught his pup to surf during the pandemic.
“I have a disability – I only have one hand – so a nonsporting human combined with a nonsporting dog breed, we are kind of phenomenal, defying the odds of what people think we’re capable of doing,” he added.
Ten-year-old Labrador Charlie, meanwhile, loves to surf so much that he’ll grab his surfboard and run over to the water. If his parents, Maria and Jeff Nieboer, want to talk to their friends on the beach first, they have to hide his board. Charlie entered the extra-large single surfer heat and also surfed tandem with two other dogs, Maria sharing that “he loves the crowd.”
He doesn’t need to be rewarded with treats, either, Jeff adding, “Charlie does what Charlie wants to do once we’re in the water.”
Rosie, another Lab who surfed tandem with Charlie, was in four heats, and dog dad Steve Drottar said that the four-year-old is “stoked” whenever they go surfing.
“It’s like, hey, we actually did something today, right? We did something together as a team,” he said. “And the fact that you can do something as a team with your dog creates a different bond than you have when you just take your dog for a walk.”
He explained that he knows Rosie feels a sense of accomplishment after she goes surfing because she wags her tail harder than usual and loves to snuggle on the couch. “It feels like she’s saying, ‘Thank you’,” he added.
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