Yellow Labrador Riding a Wave in Santa Cruz Is a Total Surfing Pro

For many folks, dogs are nothing more than household pets. You may walk them around the block on a leash or throw a ball for them in the park, but you haven’t truly considered what these animals are capable of—what they have been bred to accomplish and endure over hundreds—if not thousands—of years working alongside their humans. There’s a reason that an entire group of dog breeds is called “working dogs.” Even though they may spend most of their days lounging at your feet or on the sofa, that doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of lots more.

Many working breeds of dogs, like shepherds, retrievers, and hounds, actually get destructive and ill-behaved when they are bored. Their active minds and bodies weren’t made for mere leashed walks around the block So that’s why it’s great to see people who are truly getting active with heir dogs, like this man, who takes his lab Rosie out surfing with him.

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Rosie the surfing dog has been hanging paw alongside her owner for several years now. They started teaching her to stand on a paddle board on a lake, then graduated to smaller waves and then finally to the large waves found off the coast of their Southern California home.

Related: San Diego's Beloved Surf Therapy Dog Has Sadly Passed Away

Rosie can surf on her own as well as with her dad, and even enters surfing competitions.

How to Safely Take Your Dog to the Beach

As you can see in this video, Rosie never takes to the waves without wearing a little doggie life vest to keep her safe in case of a wipeout. Since human bodies are shaped differently than dogs, it’s important to fit them with a life vest that supports their natural swimming position and allows them to stay safe in the water.

Doggie life vests are also equipped with handles that make it easier to haul her back on the board should she tumble off.

How to Train Your Dog to Surf

As Rosie’s person explains in comments to this video, training your dog to surf is a multi-step process. You can’t just stick your dog on a board and go straight to the waves. They won’t know what they are supposed to do and they may get scared.

Instead, start by teaching them how to balance on a board in calm water, such as a lake or a pool. Once your dog has mastered paddle boarding, you can start graduating them to gliding along the waves. Just as with any activity, practice and patience are key when building your dog’s surfing skills.

Rosie and her person don’t mind the naysayers who say that Rosie looks “terrified” on the waves. Anyone who has ever met a lab knows that the usually goofy dogs can get quite intense when they are in “work” mode, and you have to concentrate a lot in order to balance on a surfboard in the middle of the waves. She clearly loves it, and in this video, you can even see her “hanging paw” with one of her little paws trailing in the water.

“For some reason, she always likes to be way out on the nose of the board,” her dad explains.

They’re both living their best lives.

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