Surf Gidget, the Pug Dina Ruiz writes about Gidget the Pug, who surfs with her mom for fun but has become more than just an amateur.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALECIA NELSON 26 | coastalcaninemag.com | Summer 2021

The Pug’s silky ears reveal her true demeanor when she’s surfing. They’re relaxed, not pushed back or pointed skyward. Her eyes are soft as she maneuvers her fifteen pounds of white fur around the surf board. Backward walking, 360s—Surf Gidget the Pug can do it all. And her on-the-board prowess has just won her first place in the small dog category at the 24th Annual Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. It’s effectively like winning gold in the canine Olympics.

The win is a long time coming. Gidgie, as her human mom Alecia Nelson calls her, has placed second on four occasions. Her championship ride took place on Friday, July 16th, just off the shores of Huntington Beach. Nelson says the conditions were challenging. “The currents were horrible. It was like a washing machine, pulling me down the coast. When I launched her, I invoked the name of a recently departed friend. I was yelling it out loud. I thought Gidgie had crashed, but she just kept going, and going, and going. The next thing I knew, she was standing there on a surf board. On the shore. She was the only dog who rode all the way in!”

For Nelson and Surf Gidget the Pug—it’s all for fun. There’s no monetary gain, except the $200 won at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. Maybe a few freebie products here and there. But mostly, just two sporty ladies bonding in the waves. “I was athletic my whole life, so I wanted to do something with my dog,” Nelson says. A Malibu girl, Nelson was living in Freeport, Maine when she got little Gidget—a fairly rare white Pug—in 2013. The pup joined a loving menagerie. “I had five dogs, two cats, five goats. I brought Gidget into that on five acres.” Gidget fit right in with the family but, early on, she was hyper and a bit naughty. “She was eating my brand new leather couch at six months of age. I had those Nigerian goats, and she was able to at least play with them.” Nelson redirected the young Pug’s energy to agility training and Gidget took to it immediately. Jumps and A-frames? No problem. “A friend of mine, Greg Louganis (the Olympic diver), had his dogs compete at the Westminster dog agility shows. I thought, ‘I could do this. We can compete, too!’ And Gidget was fast. She was so fast I could barely keep up with her on a course.”

Nelson, a paddle-boarder, had a hunch the talented Pug might enjoy the water. “I knew she had balance. But, she was a bit skeptical at first. And the tide is so different back in Maine. Getting back to shore you can be stuck in mud. She (Gidget) was like, ‘What the heck!’” They didn’t have to deal with the mud for long because Nelson longed for home and relocated back to Southern California. That’s where she stumbled upon dog surfing in 2015. “I took Gidget to Del Mar Dog Beach. There was a contest called Surf Dog Surfathon. It’d gone on for a decade. I thought, ‘What a spectacle.’” But soon after, she put Gidget on a surf board and she won third place in a competition. Nelson knew they were onto something. “Gidget started walking the board, nose to rear, nose to rear. She got accustomed to it. She started to figure it out. We always call her ‘fidget Gidget.’ This is why you see her do 360s, or ride backwards. If you look at Gidget, she also stands on all fours with confidence. When she gets to shore, she is still standing on the surf board.”

That year, Gidget’s surf career—in fact her life—was in danger when the she suffered from a syndrome called exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, or EPI. It makes dogs unable to produce enough enzymes to digest fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, so nutrients aren’t absorbed. “Gidget was doing really well, and all of a sudden became emaciated. They can starve to death, they don’t hold on to their food. She was gaunt. So, that whole season we were at the vet doing blood work. I said, ‘I guess we don’t compete anymore.’ Then, a young vet called me out of the blue and said ‘I think I’ve figured out the problem.’ I gave Gidget some pancreatic supplemental powder, and it makes the food stay in the system.” Gidget will take the powder twice a day for the rest of her life.

It’s uncommon to see dogs on surf boards, and even less common to see small dogs, like Gidget. They lack the weight to keep the board stable against the surface of the water. Then there are dogs who look like they’re being forced to hang-ten. Nelson says she can spot the uncomfortable ones a mile away. “Ears back and eyes popping out shows me they aren’t happy. They will run off when they get to shore and their owners need to chase them. They don’t want to

be there.” The antithesis is true for Gidget. “When we get out of the van, she will scream. I mean scream! Then she will run to the water—not walk but run into the water. When we get to a competition though, it’s odd. She has a game face on. She has her gear on, goggles and wet suit. We will get into our heat, then she’ll just lay down on her board. She’s ready.” Gidget always wears a hat and rash guard because white dogs are more prone to cancer. There’s a lot more to life for Alecia Nelson and Gidget than surfing. Nelson owns It’s a Dog’s Life Academy in San Clemente. Her facility provides doggy daycare, boarding, training, and training for humans, too, on how to better interact with their pups. Gidget, and the family’s other dogs Gigi and Izzy join “mom” at work. There’s also Gidget’s social media to manage. More than 135,000 people follow the sweet little pug on various platforms—well over 100,000 on Instagram alone. Nelson is also launching a 501c3 nonprofit called Surf Gidget the Pug Healing Hearts Foundation which will pair adoptable dogs with former victims of child trafficking.

Nelson cherishes her time in the water with Gidget, but knows it won’t last forever. “The day she gets off her board is the day we don’t do it anymore,” she says emphatically. “She acts like she is two—no, like a puppy. She is a Pug with ‘tude. She knows when to behave, but she is very pushy. She will get upset if she knows I’m going somewhere. She’s always at my leg. She is my soul dog.”

Dina Ruiz is a longtime Peninsula resident who has worked in the media for more than 20 years. She has been an anchor at KSBW-TV and featured on the TV shows “Candid Camera” and “Mrs. Eastwood and Company.” She is currently getting a master’s degree in creative writing at San Jose State University. Her Instagram handle is @dinaruiz. *The Purina Incredible Dog Challenge will be aired in the Fall. Check local listings to see Surf Pug Gidget in action!

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