RILEY RAINS / EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

SOPHIE HUMMEL / NEWS EDITOR

Sand in your toes, sun in your eyes and … dogs surfing waves?

Hundreds of dog lovers lined Del Mar Dog Beach on Sept. 13 to watch the 21st annual Dog Surf-A-Thon. Beginning at 8 a.m., the Helen Woodward Animal Shelter (HWAS) hosted over 1,500 pup-lover spectators to enjoy the fierce competition. 

The event was free to the public; all donations, contestant entry fees and funds raised through merch sales went directly to supporting the pets and programs at HWAS. They raised over $20,000 throughout the day. 

Dog chills out on the sand  after riding some waves. Photo courtesy of @hwac/Instagram

USD senior Jilli Lange attends the event every year with the women’s cross country team —- a running tradition. Lange was surprised to hear the total as the announcer read off the growing donor numbers between the “medium” and “small” dog divisions. 

“The announcer mentioned the amount of donors for the event and I am so pleased and happy that this event could raise that much money to help animals in need,” Lange exclaimed. “It was so fun to see all of the dogs surf and just play around at the event — a lot of us have dogs we miss at home, so getting to pet some happy beach dogs was a perfect Sunday reset.”

Austin Hale is the public relations (PR) and communications manager at HWAS and also works for the USD athletic department as a freelance broadcast operator. Sporting sunglasses and a fresh sunburn, Hale recounted the origins of this event. 

“I think it was 2006, one of our volunteers was a surfer, and the dog, you know, his dog followed him out, and they’re like, ‘let’s make a fundraiser out of this,’” Hale explained “And ever since, it’s exploded in popularity — ESPN came down like 2010.”

Canines catching waves is far from new. Dog surfing has been documented since the 1920s; the athletic spectacle is a way to keep water-loving pups entertained while they hit the waves.

Shannon Segal, a spectator for the event, doesn’t own a dog but saw the opportunity as a fun way to soak up some sun.

“Last year, I saw it going on, but I didn’t actually get the opportunity to come,” Segal recalled. “I just saw it on Instagram. I love dogs, so honestly, it’s free therapy.”

The four-legged friends caught waves — with help from their human parents — as judges scored them based on the length of their ride, technique, enthusiasm and confidence on the board. Dogs were split into categories by weight class and awarded 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, with winners moving on to the final competition for “Best In Surf.” In total, 70 surfing dogs competed for the title of “Top Surf Dog.” 

Rocket, the third-place pup in the “Small” category, was overjoyed by the day. Petting his beloved dog, Rocket’s dad Dan Nykolayko shared Rocket’s athletic background. 

“His older sister Cherie, did it for 12 years and she was his guiding light,” Nykolayko remembered. “He absolutely loves the beach. We try to come [to the beach] often, but we don’t surf a ton… But we love to go up to Rosie’s Dog Beach, Long Beach, and just run up and down the shore.”

After competing in 10-minute heats and sitting through scoring done on a 1-10 scale, the top dogs in each weight category were supposed to compete for “Best in Surf.” However, event staff canceled the final heat because of unsafe conditions and dangerous shore break.

  “The wave conditions were way too gnarly,” Hale elaborated. “They were insane. We had a lot of people drop out because they were so crazy. Safety is number one. We listened to the people who know it the best and we said, you know, let’s call it. Everyone was really supportive of the fact that we called it early because, like we said, safety is most important.”

The Helen Woodward Animal Center hosted a variety of safety resources during the event. All pups were required to wear dog life vests while shredding waves; at minimum, three staff volunteers observed the furry friends while in the water to ensure a safe surfing experience. Water bowls and cooling stations were spread sporadically throughout Del Mar, with first aid stands available to all patrons. 

Eventually, some  of  the dogs were carried to their cars because of how the hot sand was. 

“There were warning about the hot sand everywhere,” USD senior Savannah Harlan noticed. “The crowd was watching their dogs carefully.” 

Jane Hunt attended the event with Harlan — being from Seattle, the athletic feat of dog-surfing was foreign, but no less fun.

“I mostly just wanted to watch because coming from Seattle the concept of a surfing dog is insane,” Hunt explained. “It was actually the most dogs I’ve ever seen in one place. It was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Whether a dog surfed home in their hand-crafted wood trophy or strutted with a panting-participation badge, every surFUR in Del Mar earned their barking rights.

Two pups showing off their skills together. Photo courtesy of @hwac/Instagram

Pups gear up to surf in Del Mar. Photo courtsey of @hwac/ Instagram