Durban - Most dogs wag their tails and give a chatty bark when they offer the not-so-subtle hint that they want an outing.
What makes Skyy the ridgeback-cross-boerboel different from the rest of the canine pack is that it is not a walk in a local Glenwood park that he begs for.
One-year-and-five-month-old Skyy likes to be taken to Vetch’s Beach to catch a wave, often standing up on a board.
This dog has his day three times a week, says surfer Andrew Green, father of Kelly Green, who owns Skyy, and defines his relationship to the hound as “grand-daddy”.
“This dog has changed my break,” says Green, who always used to surf at North Beach where dogs are not allowed. “Now I come here (to Vetch’s) three days a week when I bring him.”
He refers to his fellow surfer as being a bit human.
“He imitates us, going under the waves.”
Green says other surfers, with long boards, sometimes relieve him of Skyy and offer him rides.
Skyy’s surfing career began when he would follow Green into the surf, “doing doggie paddle and going deeper”.
“Once he got too deep, he would have to hitch a ride on a board,” says Green. - Independent on Saturday