Surf's Up for Rover, Too

Pooches put down the bone and ride the waves

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 18, 2009 4:38 PM CDT

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Surf's Up for Rover, Too — R.J., left, and Bandit the Biker Dog catch a wave together during a practice session at the 2nd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition in Imperial Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

See spot run—not to catch a Frisbee, but to ride waves on a California beach. Surfing pooches are the latest trend in Southern California, where sunny skies and golden beaches gave birth to '60s surf culture, NPR reports. Dogs can take surfing classes and even enter surfing competitions. “It's a way for me to spend time in the water with my dog,” says the owner of a golden retriever.

“Now that my children are grown, I need an activity to use the surfboards that are left in my garage," she adds. More than 40 dogs were entered in one tournament held at Huntington Beach, where the competition was tough. “There's some serious competitors here today that we can't hold a candle to,” one bulldog owner admitted. “Now if it was skateboarding, that would be different.”
(More dog stories.)

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