From surf nazis to surf dogs (much better, thankyouverymuch)

This is one of those articles that start as one thing and thankfully turn into something completely different. Because, let’s face it, who wants to hear about surfing Nazis or Nazi surfers? But going from surf nazis to surf dogs? Hear me out.

Honestly, I was going to dedicate an entire story to the Nazi symbolism in surfing throughout the years. Because…it’s surfing history, right? But you know how deep these rabbit holes go—deeper than anyone ever wants to go. Even me. By the time I hit the Miki Dora era and his show-off antisemitism and racism, I tapped out. There are some topics The Wipeout Weekly readers and listeners can absolutely live without. And this is one of them. For now, at least.

Not time to read? There’s a micro-pod for that.

the complete opposite: surfing pets 🐶

So what’s the exact opposite of Nazism, racism, and antisemitism? Easy: surfing pets.

Whenever I covered a surf news story about yet another surfing dog competition, I always felt a bit uneasy. You see, I love animals. I walk my cats—Ocean and Mahoney—on leashes round the block and take them out for the evening in a stroller that looks like a freaking chariot. They love it. They demand it. I even took them wine tasting in Sonoma Valley when they were kittens! But when I see a video of a dog or cat surfing, I’m always suspicious: are we doing this for the cat/dog/budgie, or are we doing this for ourselves?

I am pleased to report that after multiple hours of research, hearing out “how my pet boar got into surfing” origin stories, and watching a plethora of surfing-animal footage, I can report back that it’s okay. Some animals genuinely enjoy a wee surf. And some take it to the next level.

meet ricochet, the original SURFice dog

Let me introduce you to Ricochet the Golden Retriever. The dog that started it all. The true SURFice dog.

Ricochet didn’t start out as a surf dog. She started out training to be a service dog through Puppy Prodigies, a nonprofit early-learning program for dogs destined to support people with disabilities. She was smart, gentle, incredibly intuitive—everything a future service dog needed to be. But she also had one small issue: she loved chasing birds. Too much. Enough that she was ultimately dropped from the formal service-dog track.

What nobody knew at the time was that she was never meant to be a traditional service dog. She was meant to be a SURFice dog.

ricochet’s first wave—and her purpose

At eight weeks old, Ricochet climbed onto a boogie board in a kiddie pool and balanced like she was Duke in a previous life. By 15 months, she entered her first surf dog competition and placed third. But competition was never her purpose. She found her calling on August 20th, 2009, when she spontaneously jumped onto a board with a 14-year-old boy named Patrick Ivison, who was quadriplegic.

From that moment on, Ricochet became a canine ambassador for surfers with disabilities, children with special needs, wounded veterans, and people living with PTSD. Her ability to read a person’s emotional or physical state was so precise that researchers at Duke University studied her empathy and communication skills. Ricochet was also featured on ABC for her ability to take commands from a synthesized voice on an iPad from children with autism.

a legacy bigger than most humans’

She raised more than $450,000 for human and animal causes, appeared at community events as a therapy dog, and served as an ambassador for organizations supporting disability, resilience, ocean therapy, and adaptive surfing. Her viral video with Patrick has now reached 6.6 million views on YouTube. If you want to watch the video, please please please have tissues handy—and perhaps watch it when no one is about. I’m still recovering.

Ricochet passed away in 2023 at the age of 15, leaving behind a legacy more impactful than most humans achieve in a lifetime.

Who says girls can’t surf good?