Sunday 25 October 2009

Everybody's gone surfin'

I found this while undertaking my daily trawl through the news. This is one clever dog.

Usually, the most excitement dogs get on a beach is to chase a stick into the sea and bring it back again. But golden retriever Ricochet loves nothing more than proving she's a new-wave pet.

Rip Curl Ricki, as she's known, has been teaching a quadriplegic teenager how to tandem surf.

Patrick Ivison suffered a spinal cord injury when he was run over at only 14 months old. But the 15-year-old is now able to surf using an adaptive surfboard which is built for two people.

He said of Ricochet: 'She acts as that second person. She knows how to balance, too. She leans back and turns the board and it's pretty cool to watch.'



They never surf alone and always have a support team of family and friends to keep the teen from getting in trouble in the waters off San Diego.

But if they do end up in the soup, 19-month-old Ricochet never leaves his side, her owner Judy Fridono said. 'It's like she was born to surf with him. She just seems to know what to do and where to stand.'

Ricochet, a Surfin' for Paws-abilities surfer dog, has helped raise £5,000 towards the teenager's physiotherapy costs by being entered in surf dog contests.

'Surfing is the most extreme thing I've ever done and taken to the next level. It's my action sport,' added Patrick, who has some movement in his left side.

OK, Biggles ..... let's try again.....Fetch! Erm, no you are supposed to bring the ball back.

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