By Julia Williams
Mere moments after I finished writing my last article on Teaching Your Dog to Surf, I learned that the most famous of all surfing canines has joined the ranks of the CANIDAE Special Achievers. I’m talking about Surf Dog Ricochet of course, the amazing canine who uses her remarkable surfing talent to raise money for charity. Surf Dog Ricochet is a perfect fit for the CANIDAE dog sponsorship program, which began in 2006 as a way to support extraordinary canines and their devoted owners.
The dogs selected for sponsorship must be good ambassadors in their chosen “vocation,” be it dog sports, search and rescue, service and therapy work, police work, or conformation. These dogs all eat CANIDAE food, naturally, and their good health and ability to excel at their jobs helps promote the many benefits of a premium-quality holistic pet food.
Surf Dog Ricochet was slated to be service dog but was released from the program because her interest in chasing birds could be a risk to a person with disabilities. Undaunted by this change in her life plan, Ricochet perfected her surfing techniques and discovered another way to help people. Ricochet’s inspirational story of how she went “From Service Dog to SURFice Dog” has touched millions of lives worldwide, and to date she’s raised over $30,000 for her charitable causes!
Surf Dog Ricochet eats the CANIDAE Grain Free All Life Stages formula which helps her stay healthy and strong. Previously, Ricochet was plagued by chronic ear infections, but since switching to CANIDAE she has been free of that problem. Because she is an extremely active canine, she needs a high quality food to maintain her energy, stamina, and performance.
Surf Dog Ricochet embodies all of the qualities CANIDAE looks for when choosing canines to sponsor. Ricochet and her human companion, Judy, live a lifestyle of helping others by “pawing it forward,” while raising awareness and funds for both human and animal causes.
Speaking of good causes, Judy recently asked CANIDAE if they’d be willing to help out the “Dog Days of Summer,” a drive to collect food and supplies for shelters all around the world. The Dog Days drive was organized by Ricochet’s friends at BlogPaws, an online resource for pet bloggers. BlogPaws was founded by three passionate pet lovers/bloggers who are dedicated to supporting rescues, shelters, and the people who work so hard to help homeless, abandoned and abused pets.
As many of you know, CANIDAE All Natural Pet Foods is a very generous company with a long history of charitable giving. They were happy to lend their support to this great cause for shelters, and donated 350 pounds of premium-quality CANIDAE dog food and FELIDAE cat food to the drive. Ricochet split her food donation between two shelters, the San Diego Humane Society and the Rancho Coastal Humane Society.
You can help BlogPaws and the Dogs Days food drive too, but only if you act quickly, as it ends on July 31st! For information on how to contribute to this worthwhile cause and help the homeless animals in your community, click here.
CANIDAE is proud to welcome the extraordinary Surf Dog Ricochet (aka Rip Curl Ricki) as the newest member of their Special Achievers team. If you haven’t seen the Surf Dog Ricochet video yet, you really should – because the touching story of how this beautiful young golden retriever found her true calling and is changing countless lives as a result is one that every pet lover should see.
Photos courtesy of Diane Edmonds and Judy Fridono
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