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Remembering Sugar the Surfing Dog, World Champion Dog Surfer

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The surfing dog, a stupid pet trick that has delighted us for decades because dogs don’t belong on surfboards, is a timeless classic of nightly news sign-offs and wacky, low-effort YouTube video compilations. It makes sense why. Watching them stand on a board as they ride the crest of a gnarly wave, either clenched in a full panic or so relaxed they seem like the reincarnated spirit of a beach bum, is mildly delightful because, I say again, dogs don’t belong on surfboards—and yet!

Of all the dogs that have ever surfed, there is one Huntington Beach area dog that rode the waves straight into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame. Sugar The Surfing Dog has, unfortunately, passed away from cancer at the age of 14, according to a post on her Instagram account.

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Sugar, Beloved Champion Surfing Dog, Dies at 14

Sugar was no ordinary dog, which you could’ve guessed from the whole surfing thing. She was actually pretty good at it, considering that she is, yet again, a dog on a surfboard on top of a wave, a place dogs usually aren’t found. She was much more than some lightly entertaining viral video clips. She was a five-time world champion in dog surfing because there is a long-running dog surfing championship.

Her legacy eventually landed her a spot in surfing immortality. She was inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame in 2024, becoming the first canine to be inducted.

Sugar’s owner, Ryan Rustan, found her as a stray in Oakland. Rustan put her on a board one day for the heck of it, and it quickly spun into large crowds, competitions, and a solid reputation for being a good girl that will, in essence, make her immortal. And it’s not just because she was a kitschy surfing dog. In her off hours, she was also a therapy dog, spending time with veterans.

Earlier in March, Rustan had shared her cancer diagnosis and asked for help with medical bills through a fundraiser that later shifted toward covering cremation costs and preserving her legacy.

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