Hi all ! Our event is fast approaching, yahoo! We will be holding some clinics the month of June. I have been asked by people the best way to get a dog to ride. I base these first pre-surfing tips from a bit of experience getting Kia to ride many things like skateboards, motorcycle, electric scooters, boogie boards ( she did a 6 hr river float trip in AZ 4yrs ago) kayaking and the list is long.
My first tip for people is to get to Costco and buy a foam surfboard, most any dog can ride a longboard so I say get the 7-8ft depending on your dog size but also what you can carry to the beach in your vehicle.
Ok, now you have board and ready to get your pooch to ride !
Drop the board on the grass, or on the carpet in your house, and see what the dog does many will just jump on, others you might need to treat to get on the board, the key is to let the dog jump on it themselves ( not to force them ever). Now lets say your dog gets on the board, give them a treat and TONS of praise ( dogs on boards is NOT natural) so be way excited, NEVER rush them. This might take a short time, or could take a day or a week. It's all up to your pooch. Always take and be patient, dogs build trust with positive feedback ( treats don't hurt either).
Now lets say Fido is luving to get on the board, great, now step 2 !
Place board in pool or lake ( NOT ocean with waves) now repeat the above step getting your pooch to want to get on board. Treat each time they do.
Now once dog is fine with getting on the board while it's on water time to pull-push the board around so they get the idea of how to balance while moving.
Once again this might take lots of time, or no time at all.
Now once you get to this point your ready to hit the ocean. I highly recommend for starters to hit the Jetty's at the Santa Ana river and PCH, you turn towards the ocean at Orange St. then make right and go all the way to the end, I also warn you to check the tide you want a nice LOW tide to surf. As your gonna put your dog on the board in the shallow and do the same you did at the lake or pool. Once your dog is cleared with this step, then I say go out to the white wash ( the part that bubbles up after the waves break, it's the foam part we all play in) and see about catching a wave from that point, keep in mind you really want to have your dog get on the board and you push them out while on it, it's NOT a good idea to have your dog swim out and try to hop on, our pal Peter in Del Mar has this Mastered with Nani she's 85lbs, all he does is push her out then push her into the wave and she's off. Feel free to email us via the SurfinPaws site if you have any questions !
The pictures on this Post are for you to see that what I'm explaining here will get you to the point of your dog jumping up on the board and you being able to just push your dog out into the waves like Peter and Nani do !!!
Always be safe, wear a life vest, Nani is 85lbs so in being that large the vest in 3' of water is not so critical, but Kia being 8.5LBS always has one on, I like to stress to wear one no matter what!
Rene Bruce
SurfinPaws.com
