Saved from being put down and brought to the UK, poodle-cross Scooter's life is a far cry from his time as a street dog in Portugal.
He now spends his time riding the waves with owner Kirstie Martin as a superstar surf therapy dog, reports TeamDogs.
The poor pooch had a hard life in The Algarve, where he was turfed out onto the streets as a puppy, but he now leads a much happier life with owner Kirstie in Sidlesham, near Chichester, in West Sussex.
The owner-and-dog duo now spend their spare time helping others with their not-for-profit surf school, Scooter's Surf School.
Kirstie told TeamDogs: "Scooter was chucked out on the street as a puppy and found by someone running in the road. When they found him they were going to take him to a pound, but it was full, so he was going to be put to sleep.
“The pound contacted Milu’s Corner, further north in Portugal – a sanctuary who are committed to not turning any dogs away. They had 750 dogs. He was vaccinated, castrated, and put up for adoption. I saw his picture and his eyes and fell in love with him. So, I brought him over here.”
Watersport-lover Kirstie, who is also a full-time police officer, has always had a passion for surfing and paddleboarding so she decided use this hobby to both help others, and spend more quality time with Scooter.
She said: “On Instagram I follow lots of surfy things and dog things, and I discovered one day that over in America there was such thing as surf therapy dogs. I thought, ‘Wow, I wonder if I could teach Scooter to surf’, so we could combine my love of surfing and spend more time together, and also, he could become the UK’s first surf therapy dog.”
Already a therapy dog for Pets as Therapy, Kirstie then followed a training course by the most famous surf therapy dog in the U.S. called Ricochet, to teach Scooter the surfing ways.
And he took to it like a duck to water, or should that be dog?
Scooter first learned to balance on the board, which involved using cushions to resemble rocky waves. He then progressed to a doggy swimming pool.
Kirstie said: “I told the owner of the swimming pool about Scooter and she thought I was joking. I made sure he could swim properly and that he was confident in the water before taking his board. When I took it, he ran and jumped straight on it from the poolside.”
Scooter's training then progressed to the sea, where he learned to balance and ride the waves into the beach. The whole process took eight months.
They soon progressed to tandem surfing on a long board where Scooter would stand on the front and Kirstie paddling the board behind him. They’d catch small white-water waves and Kirstie would pop up behind him and surf to the beach.
Kirstie said: “People started asking how I taught him, and they wanted to teach their dogs. I started seeing people plonking their dogs on boards without any proper training and you could see the dogs were scared.
“So, I thought I’d teach people how to do it properly, so people can enjoy the hobby with their dog and build a stronger bond. Through doing the training Scooter and I developed really good trust.
"Lots of people were getting paddleboards and surfboards over lockdown so, if I did a course, it would benefit the dogs and also make conversations about rescue dogs and therapy dogs.
“We’ve just finished our third course; each course has six dogs. It can get quite excitable. The first half of the course is at the doggy swimming pool, and the second is at the beach which can get quite chaotic because it’s very exciting for the dogs. I’ve got another one starting in August and the final in September, after that the water is too cold for the dogs.
“Obviously, their welfare is paramount and everything about the course. We do a lot of conditioning for the dogs because just like humans, the dogs need to be fit enough to do surfing and paddleboarding.
"We always start it with a warm-up and stretching exercises. They do 15 minutes of a circuit class. I have inflatable toys for them to do balance training to make sure they’re building muscle in their legs and core to be able to cope with the demands of balancing and falling in and getting back onto the board and swimming.”
Kirstie also teaches beach safety to her clients, some who have never paddleboarded before.
You can follow Scooter on his adventures on social media: @scooter_surf_therapy_dog
Enquire about the surf school here.
