Adorable pups wearing life vests and sunglasses/ goggles, riding the waves in front of crowds…read morefilled with half humans, half dogs!?! At the beach on a beautiful warm day? Heck yeah, sign me up! There were lots of dogs and their humans all over Pacifica State Beach this past Saturday, for the annual World Dog Surfing Championship. So many dogs doing their thing (ie. peeing in the sand in front of beachgoers, flicking dirt onto people as they dug holes in the sand... but surprisingly not a lot of barking), playing with other dogs, and getting spoiled by dog-lovers with so much attention, as well as toys and treats from vendor tents in the back.
There were plenty of items for sale including cute T-shirts from California Canine, and plush squeak toys and travel accessories from P.L.A.Y. (Pet LIfestyles and You). But there was no food for humans for sale at any of the tents, which was odd for this type of event.. not even snacks or drinks. But I guess it's good that the event was located right next to the Taco Bell Cantina. And at least they had porta potties available at the beach near the parking lot.
In order to view the actual dog surfing, you had to be in the water, some of us even knee deep. So it's good I wore shorts on this day cuz that made it super fun to get up close and personal with these awesome dogs, some even surfing right toward me as I took photos and cheered them on with the rest of the crowd.
The big question we had before attending was, do the dogs really surf by themselves? And how? Well here's how it worked. The dogs were grouped into heats (small, medium, and large dogs... tandem, etc.) Then two or three boards went at a time, near the shoreline of the water. There would be a at least one human at each end (in the water, and near the shoreline) for each dog or pair of dogs. One human was further in the water and would wait for the waves then give the surfboard a push toward the shore once the dog was balanced on it (some dogs even sitting on the board instead of standing), the other human would catch the dog/board on the other end... that is if the dog(s) didn't fall off into the water, or jump off and start running into the crowd. Those that stayed on the surfboard while gliding on the water apparently got more points, since this was a contest and they were being judged. The same dog would have multiple turns over and over, it's like no limit to how many tries... but I think it was mostly to put on a good show for us viewers :D
The speaker system wasn't that great, so it was kind of hard to hear the announcers and tell what was going on if you were just lying on the sand, stretched out on your beach blanket or mat, instead of joining the crowds in the water. It would have been better if they had music playing or something like that to make it a little more lively. But it was fun regardless, getting to just relax, lounge, enjoy a picnic and conversation with one of my favorite people. And entertaining enough to watch other people's dogs all throughout the area, and talk to their owners. They also had a fashion show, with dogs wearing fun costumes, some even matching their humans (ie. a couple and their two dogs all dressed like watermelon).
Some aspects of this event made it seem somewhat chaotic at times. Parking wasn't too difficult to find in the nearby neighborhood, but traffic was a bit slow and confusing getting there. Also, volunteers/staff at the event often yelled to tell people to make space for the surf dogs on the sand, like they were walking the red carpet or somethin, and judges yelled to tell people in the water to move, if the dog ended up floating in your direction while "surfing". There probably could have been a little bit better organization, but I actually liked the subtle chaos and unpredictability, I mean as long as the dogs were having fun, and they had safety measures in place for everyone (police, fire truck, first aid, medic truck), attendees, especially dog-lovers, had a lot to appreciate about this unique and free event on the beach! We certainly had a good time :)
