How do you train a dog to surf?


How do you train a dog to surf?



IMPORTANT; 
  1. You should never attempt to take a dog surfing unless you are an experienced surfer yourself 
  2. And only attempt to take your dog surfing if you are sure it will enjoy it and you know the conditions are not at all challenging and totally safe. Never force a dog to go outside its comfort zone.
  3. Get your dog training right from the start - take your puppy to dog training classes


My wife and I both grew up in Cornwall and have been surfing for nearly 40 years between us. I am a qualified beach lifeguard and dive leader so have lots of surf rescue experience should it ever be needed.

We never intended to train mango to surf but she is a very loyal dog and she will follow you to the ends of the earth! One day when we were having a nice surf she decided to swim out through the waves and join in!

I put her on my board and she surfed back in to the beach! That's when I realised that we had a surfing dog! The next day I went out and bought a board perfect for us both to ride!

The board we ride together is a soft top beginners longboard - it is 8 foot long and is made by Wave Slave. This is the typical board that surf schools use as they float really well and if they hit you they wont break your skull! The soft foam coating on the top and sides of the board lets mango get a good grip - her claws dig in and she stays on even when we paddle out through big-ish waves!

When we go down to the beach together I am extremely careful to study the weather and surf conditions to make sure that it is totally safe to go in.

Mango will follow me anywhere and as she is not afraid of the water it seemed very natural for her to get on my board with me!

if we have a wipeout mango will not swim back into the beach but will swim back to me and will get straight back up on the board.

Swimming and surfing is a great way to exercise a dog and all dogs need loads of exercise!

MEGA important 
Get your dog training right from the start!

From an early age we took mangos training very seriously. We picked up loads of really useful tips on dog psychology and training by attending local puppy training classes - our class was called PECO dog training club at Goonhavern  . Shieila who runs it is fantastic and really knows her stuff - she is very much a dog person and is not afraid to upset a few dog owners to put them right - it was very entertaining!
Basically Mango like any dog would love to be in charge of our pack but we take every effort to remind her that we are more important than her and that she is bottom of the pecking order! Most problems with dog behaviour come from a dog or bitch thinking that she is responsible for her pack, so we follow basic rules - we always eat before mango. We make her sit and wait for as long as we want before she is allowed to eat her food, we move her bed about and don't let her come up onto the sofa unless we ask her to. We don't let her upstairs that's human territory and we don't let her go through a doorway first. Mango was our first family dog so we wanted to make sure that we trained her properly and it has really paid off, she walks perfectly to heel (without pulling on the lead) and most of the time I don't need to have her on a lead at all.
It definitely helps that Labradors are such intelligent dogs and it also helps that they are incredibly greedy so bribery can always be used to help win them over! When she was a pup we spent a lot of time making sure that she was always rewarded for coming back to us so that we could rely on her always wanting to come when she is called. The worst thing you could ever do is loose your temper with a dog or hit it as this will make it less likely to fancy coming back to you. Although it does her good to be treated at the bottom of the pile we do give her plenty of fuss and cuddles when it suits us - mango is great with our children and is a really affectionate dog.

1 comment:

  1. I would like to thank you for the efforts you have made in writing this blog. Very Informative post with Images. very interesting topic regarding Dog Training UK

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