The 2018 Dog Surfing World Championships just went down in Pacifica (South San Francisco) and it brought together the finest canine surfers in the world.
The event went down at Linda Mar Beach and the dogs were matched up based on size and weight, and judges used subjective criteria for determining winners. While speaking with the San Francisco Chronicle one of the judges, Sam Stahl, had this to say about what he looks for in a ride “It’s a feeling. You’re looking for ability to stand, ride, move in the wave. You’re looking for style. How panicked or how calm the dog is. That makes a difference.”
As you can imagine, the footage of the 2018 Dog Surfing World Championships is pretty awesome:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmHEv0IlrZV/
This is an event I first discovered 3 years ago when I was in SoCal for a surfing trip and came back to my hotel, flipped on the TV, and saw dogs surfing. I was so tired from paddling all morning I thought I might’ve been delirious but it turns out this is an annual event in California (this is the third year) and I just so happened to flip on the TV at the right time.
There were two competitive categories: dogs surfing solo and dogs surfing in tandem with a human. According to SacBee.com, there were also ball and frisbee catching competitions on the beach for dogs who weren’t quite up to the task of riding waves.