• Surf Dog Diaries - dog blog
  • The ride of life with a dog
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Dog Diary

The ride of life with a dog
  • Surf Dog Diaries - dog blog
  • The ride of life with a dog
  • HANG 20 - DOG BEACH, CA
  • HANG 20 - DOG RIVER, OR
  • ABOUT US
  • BarbAyers.com
  • GIVING BACK
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Dogs ride the ups and downs with us. Real life Surf Dog Diaries

Meet writer dogs. Rider dogs. Best dog friends. Surf the couch, the www, or a wave. Wave back at us!

It's all about the ride. The ride of life with a dog.

Little Dude - from rescue dog to surf star, to blind surf dog. My most amazing dog son of all.

Barbara Ayers August 19, 2017

Little Dude, my third surf dog son - went home two different years with top surf dog prizes at the Loews Coronado Surf Dog Contest. That was in 2007 and 2009, surfing in San Diego, California at Imperial Beach. Check out the action of cool dogs, including Dude, in this YouTube - Dude rides about 1:30 in:

Dude on board.jpg
Dude was the underdog of the family - Elvis, my alpha basset hound was first in the lineup for this contest- but he chickened out when he saw the storm surf that day. I don't blame him - it was awful weather and a challenging rip tide had us all worried about safety.
Dude proved that #2 tries harder. He stepped right up, and took it all in stride. He rode wild waves -  all the way to shore - with a remarkable laid-back style.

That was the day we dropped "Little" off of his name - from that day forward, he was the Dude.

He won awards for surfing waves by himself - and surfing tandem with me. But hey- we're not about winning - we're all about sharing the fun. Sharing the ride.
Dude and me at the Surf Dog Contest.    Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DOgDiary.org

Dude and me at the Surf Dog Contest.    Photo: (c) Barb Ayers, DOgDiary.org

Years later, Dude went blind. And still he surfed.

He stepped right up - and took it all in stride. He taught me more than anyone else about overcoming adversity. About not letting setbacks hold you back. About riding the ups and downs - the waves of life.
Here he is, pup SUPping (standup paddle boarding) with his two dog brothers and I on the Columbia River. He also windsurfed blind. No biggie.
Dude lived aloha spirit, each and every day. He was always up for an adventure.
Dude lives forever in our hearts - he may well be my most amazing surf dog of all. RIP Dudester. We miss your heart, your snores and your laid back style!

Surf dog mom Barb Ayers

Tags Dude the dog, blind beagle, blind dog, surf dog contest, Loews Coronado Surf Dog Contest, Dog Beach in Ocean Beach, surfing dog, basset hound rescue, best friend dog, overcoming adversity, I love dogs, pirate surf dog, cute dog story, funny dog video, Barbara Ayers, surf dog mom Barb Ayers, dog blog, San Diego, Dog beach in Ocean Beach, Imperial beach surf dog, Petco Unleashed surf dog contest, surfing the ups and downs of life, surf basset
Our roof partially caved in, with inches of ice on top of snow this week. That's our bedroom window. Our hearts caved in, too.

Our roof partially caved in, with inches of ice on top of snow this week. That's our bedroom window. Our hearts caved in, too.

Words fail at times like these. Most of us survived the ice storm. The rest of us are curled up inside.

Barbara Ayers January 22, 2017

Our heart caved in when the roof did. Some of us did not survive the ice storm. 

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Tags dog friend, dog mom Barb Ayers, surf basset, surf dog diaries, Dude the dog, blind dog, coping with pet loss, losing a pet, winter storm, Oregon snowmeggadon, snow day, dog diary, Dog Beach in Ocean Beach, surf dog contest, my best friend, my secret diaries, i luv dogs, I love dogs, basset hound, rescue dog, overcoming adversity, recovery from disaster, disaster preparedness, Barbara Ayers, dog Doodle, DogDiary.org, snowpocalypse, snowmeggadon, Oregon, Pacific Northwest, Portland OR, pet parents, dog people, Best Friends Animal Society, rescue dogs, Hood River OR, Columbia River Gorge, Mount Hood Meadows, Oregon snowpocalypse
Dude the senior citizen surf dog.   Photo: (c) Barb Ayers DogDiary.org

Dude the senior citizen surf dog.   Photo: (c) Barb Ayers DogDiary.org

It’s fall - my favorite season of all. Even though I’m an endless summer surf dog.

Barbara Ayers October 16, 2016

Dear Dog Diary:  I love fall snap and fall spunk, maybe more than anything else. It’s your wakeup call - just when you were all lazy endless summer surf dog. 

If you're someplace warm, you don’t even know what you’re missing.

Zen of fall dog life in the Columbia River Gorge.

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Tags dog diary, dog blog, surf dog diaries, Barb Ayers, Barbara Ayers, dog friends, fall season, fall leaves, dog thoughts, what dogs think, secret life of dogs, secret life of pets, secret diary of a dog, Dog Beach, surf dog, SUP dog, Dude the dog, best friend, I love dogs, dogs are family, my secret diary, dog stories, tales 4 paws, hang 20, fur friend, good dog book, Columbia River Gorge, Hood River OR, Oregon, rescue dog, writer dog, author dog, blind dog, windsurfing dog, SUP pup, stand up paddle boarding, surf dog contest, dog mom, surfing life, the ride of life, life with dogs, day in the life
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Surf Dog Diaries.com

Featured
The smell of the river at sunrise will change your life
Jul 15, 2023
The smell of the river at sunrise will change your life
Jul 15, 2023

Dogs and people on the river. At dusk, coyote swims by as you zig jag turns through river glass, reflecting earth and man and sky. River bamboo swallows your wake - as if nothing ever happened.

Secret spot. Shhh! Don't tell....

 

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Jul 15, 2023
Celebrate your indy spirit on Independence Day with Doodle!
Jul 9, 2023
Celebrate your indy spirit on Independence Day with Doodle!
Jul 9, 2023
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Jul 9, 2023
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Jul 7, 2023
From Cat House to dog house. Cat takes over the dog blog (Part 4 - last in a series)
Jul 7, 2023

So there I was, living at Cat House, surrounded by 25 felines of every size, sense and sensibility. Waiting to be rescued. Elvis stopped by. In 13 seconds, my life forever changed. I was picked out - picked up - by the basset alpha of Surf Dog Diaries. In no time, I was in the car in a box, on my way to my new home with my new surf dog family.

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Jul 7, 2023
Elvis & Tiapsretouched.jpg
Jun 24, 2023
I met Elvis at Cat House and he took me home. Based on a true story.
Jun 24, 2023
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Jun 24, 2023
Doxie Doodle's ear flapping windsurf ride. (GoPro video)
Jun 17, 2023
Doxie Doodle's ear flapping windsurf ride. (GoPro video)
Jun 17, 2023
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Jun 17, 2023
Cat takes over the dog blog (part 2)  Based on a true story. By me, elegant tabby cat.
Jun 10, 2023
Cat takes over the dog blog (part 2) Based on a true story. By me, elegant tabby cat.
Jun 10, 2023

Dear Dog Diary - In the Beginning - 1991… I remember the day She first picked me up. It was in the Cattery at the jail with all those other kitties.

Actually, it wasn’t bad, it was San Diego Humane Society – but it was still jail. That place in between. For homeless kitties.

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Jun 10, 2023
The secret surf dog handshake! Our new rescue pup steps on board!
May 29, 2023
The secret surf dog handshake! Our new rescue pup steps on board!
May 29, 2023

A new rescue pup, a chiweenie, adopts us on Mother's Day.. He mastered a surf board faster than all four generations of low rider rescue dogs before him.

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May 29, 2023
Kihei on a hot stove.jpg
May 12, 2023
Mod Squad of cat’s 'n dogs - based on a true story. By the tabby cat. (Cat takes over the dog blog, part 1)
May 12, 2023

Elvis, the big ol’ droopy eyed saggy basset hound, swayed around the house, scraping against the walls of the dinky beach cottage. Walking for any length of time ate up his one-big-energy-surge-of-the-whole-day, and he used it to find just the right spot in the sun to plop down for his daily nap. I guess if I carried 70 pounds and a massive square head with neck flaps bearing down on two inch legs, I’d be a super mellow stoner dude too. 

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May 12, 2023
2022 Gaslamp Xmas Pet parade.jpeg
Jan 12, 2023
Christmas spirit is inside us - every day - we crazy dog people!
Jan 12, 2023
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Jan 12, 2023
Dad n Doodle snooze-small.jpg
Mar 13, 2022
Dear Grandpa, I love you - from your grand dog.
Mar 13, 2022
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Mar 13, 2022
Boomers - remember the Flying Nun? Doxie Doodle's ear flapping windsurf ride. (Surf board GoPro video)
Aug 20, 2021
Boomers - remember the Flying Nun? Doxie Doodle's ear flapping windsurf ride. (Surf board GoPro video)
Aug 20, 2021
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Aug 20, 2021
I love my dog. You do, too. Together, we go - surf dog summers are here!
Jul 29, 2021
I love my dog. You do, too. Together, we go - surf dog summers are here!
Jul 29, 2021

Windsurfing is our first passion as surf dogs. We love to sail the Columbia River, right in our Oregon front yard.  My three dogs sons - Elvis, Dude and Doodle sail with me in Hood River, Oregon, the windsurfing capital of the world.

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Jul 29, 2021
OB Law license plate in the bookshelf-small.jpg
Apr 24, 2021
O.B. Law - throwback to another surf dog place and time
Apr 24, 2021
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Apr 24, 2021
Mar 28, 2021
First day of spring. In spite of COVID.
Mar 28, 2021
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Mar 28, 2021
blue sky pekks out_stretched best small.jpg
Feb 14, 2021
Hi, my name is snow. Remember me? Snowmeggadon, in words and pictures
Feb 14, 2021
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Feb 14, 2021
Feb 7, 2021
Snow dog day - Snowmeggadon in Oregon's front yard 2017
Feb 7, 2021

Snow day in the Columbia River Gorge - a DogDiary photo essay

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Feb 7, 2021

Surf Dog Diaries  |  Barb Ayers, San Diego, CA and Mosier OR.  |   All content and images (c) Barb Ayers, copyrighted, all rights reserved