Chapter 9 |
The First WaveTime to Surf!
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Here's a short video my friend Deb Spoonhour made of me and my Surf Dog Nani at the 2010 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge Surf Dog Competition in Ocean Beach.
Note how all of the points made above are actually used to get Nani outside and into a wave. By the way....She Won First Place in the Large Dog Division of this Competition! Her best friend Surf Dog Dozer won First Place in the Small Dog Division! |
June, 2010 |
Now the bad news.
You are outside and your dog is moving away from you. You don’t get to see them surf. Hopefully someone is taking photos for you to look at later. There’s also a good chance your Surf Dog doesn’t like the idea that they are surfing away from you. They will most likely turn around to look for you. When they do this, they might jump off to get back to you or they may fall off. Their first Wipeout! Be patient! Just keep trying! See Wipeouts in the next chapter. |
Surf Dog Retrievers (SDR's)
Now your dog is happily surfing towards the beach. You need to make your way in to retrieve them. (Note: You're not going to "Catch" them,....again, this is not baseball and they are not falling!) They finished their ride and you will need to "Retrieve" them so you can do it again. Here’s the great workout we were talking about. (As if working your way out into the surf wasn’t enough already). You can walk in, run in, swim in or body surf in. This might take a little while so get going. Any way you do it, get to your Surf Dog quickly. They could be swimming or could be waiting for you on the beach. Either way, most dogs do not like being separated from their owner. If you have a friend, your SDR, helping you, they can get your Surf Dog back on the surfboard and start pushing them back out to you. This will save time and energy! Make sure they have read oand understand what has been discussed in these lessons or you have explained to them what you expect of them. Having help is awesome! You won’t believe how tired you’re going to be. In competitions where you only have a limited amount of time, having help retreiving will assure you get the maximum number of waves. |
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On to Chapter 10Wipeouts |