Paddleboarding pooches and their owners ride the waves to record-breaking glory

Since it splashed on to the scene in 2018, the UK Dog Surfing Championships, held at Branksome Dene Chine, near Poole in Dorset, UK, have consistently proved popular among boarders – of both the two and four-legged variety!

The organizer – Mark Reeves (UK) of Shaka Surf – decided to up the ante at this year’s event, held on 27 July, by not only staging the regular contest, which involves owners accompanied by their canine companions paddling out to a buoy and getting back to the beach in the fastest time, but also orchestrating three doggy paddleboarding world records. What’s that saying about never working with animals at live events…?

Video credits: Thanh Hung Nguyen and Gokul Aanandh Bhoopathy

Thankfully the day turned out to be a resounding success, with a whippet named Margo and her owner Carl Barnes going on to lift the overall trophy.

But even more exciting yet, by the end of the afternoon, three new GWR titles had been claimed by some talented hounds and their humans out on the waves.

• Most dog/human pairs paddleboarding simultaneously
• Fastest 50 m paddleboarding by a human/dog pair
• Most dogs on a single paddleboard

To kick off, all the dogs that were enrolled to take part had to be given the all-clear by local vet Iulia Coroian to ensure they were at least one year old and fit to take part in the day’s activities. An animal behaviourist was also on hand throughout the day to keep an eye on the welfare and wellbeing of the dogs.

After a morning of heats for the main paddleboarding competition (as well as a red-carpet entrance on the beach for owners and their pooches to introduce themselves!), the record-focused proceedings got underway at lunchtime cheered on by hundreds of beachgoers and under the watchful eye of GWR Adjudicator Pravin Patel.

First up was a 50-m sprint paddle-off between 10 entrants (each comprising a human and a dog on a board), which was just enough to claim the title of most dog/human pairs paddleboarding simultaneously.

Matthew Jenkins (UK) with his two-year-old shih-tzu rescue dog Gigi (aka Super G) quickly took poll position in the race, but hot on their tails was Ben Gray (UK) and his bodacious "boarder" collie Boo, who only recently turned one. In the end, it was a tie, both crossing the finish line in a lightning-quick 32 seconds.

Jenkins told GWR afterwards: "Me and Gigi were overjoyed to find we had set a new world record and it was made even more special that it was a dead heat with Ben and Boo!"

"It was a very proud moment for all of us, but records are there to be broken and we will be back at the next opportunity to go even faster. I’m up for it, and I know that my wing girl Gigi is too!"

Gray's summary chimed with that of his fellow record breaker's: "The entire day competing alongside my bestest buddy Boo was an awesome experience. Co-setting a Guinness World Records title with Matt and Gigi was the cherry on the icing on the cream on the cake!"

The foursome now share the title for fastest 50 m paddleboarding by a human/dog pair.

The final record attempt was always going to be the most challenging as it involved working with numerous dogs (who weren’t familiar with one another) on a single board.

Initially, after the owners set out past the breakers with the giant paddleboard and its canine passengers on board, it transpired there were only nine dogs. Tensions rose at this point as it meant that they were agonizingly close but one short in order to potentially claim the record.

Luckily, a last-minute callout for volunteers on the beach saw three more owners and their pooches jump into the breach, wading out to join the others to ensure the record got over the line. This resulted in a record-setting total of 12 – the most dogs on a paddleboard.

For event organizer Mark Reeves, the highlight of the day – other than the three successful records, of course – was “seeing how many smiling faces were in the crowd watching the attempts”.

Asked for his top tips for anyone thinking of giving paddleboarding a go with a furry friend, Mark suggested that smaller to medium-sized dogs tend to be more suited to the pursuit; in particular, he has found springer spaniels seem to really take to it.

If starting completely from scratch, Mark advised: “Get trained by a qualified dog behaviourist who specializes in surf and paddleboard confidence. And you’ll have to go out a lot so it becomes the norm for them.

“The dogs have to be happy and confident in the ocean if it’s going to work.”

Now that he’s got a taste for breaking records, Mark is already mulling over more ideas, so it’s safe to say that there may be some more pawsome paddleboarding records on the horizon for the UK Dog Surfing Championships.