Surf Dog Ricochet
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| Species | Canis lupus familiaris |
|---|---|
| Breed | Golden Retriever |
| Sex | Female |
| Born |
Ricochet January 25, 2008 San Diego, California |
| Employer | Puppy Prodigies |
| Known for | Surfing, empathic & intuitive healing, raising awareness and funds |
| Title | SURFice dog |
| Owner | Judy Fridono |
Ricochet (born January 25, 2008), is a female Golden Retriever dog from San Diego who helps people with disabilities through surfing and community outreach. Ricochet's popularity on social media originated from a video of her surfing with a boy who is quadriplegic that was posted on YouTube. As of May 22, 2016, the video has more than 12.5 million views on YouTube and Facebook.
When Ricochet was 8 weeks old, she climbed on a boogie board in a kiddie pool and was able to balance on her own. She has been surfing ever since. She started entering surf dog contests in 2010. On June 10, 2011, she surfed with surf pro, Taylor Knox. On June 16, 2012 she surfed with actor, Cameron Mathison in the Loews Coronado Bay Resort surf dog contest and won 2nd place. In August 2012 Ricochet surfed with a goat named Pismo. On July 20, 2014 she surfed with surf pro Rob Machado.
Ricochet is also the canine ambassador for surfers with disabilities and referred to as a SURFice dog, because she surfs with kids with special needs, people with disabilities, wounded warriors & veterans with PTSD as an assistive aid.
Ricochet was raised and trained by Judy Fridono as part of Fridono's non-profit 501(c)3 organization, Puppy Prodigies Neo-Natal & Early Learning Program. The organization trains dogs to be service dogs for people with disabilities. She started training to be a service dog but as she grew, her instinct for chasing birds and other wildlife increased and she was dropped from the program. On August 20, 2009, she jumped on a surfboard with a 14-year-old boy named Patrick Ivison who is quadriplegic.
Ricochet was 15 months old when she started her competitive dog surfing career at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge Surf Dog competition, where she won third place. Ricochet went on to win additional Purina Surf Dog contests as well as contests held by the Helen Woodward Animal Center's Surf Dog Surf-a-thon, Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Contests (now known as Unleashed By Petco's Surf Dog Contests) and Surf City Surf Dog surf contests.
Ricochet is involved in dog-human communication research with Dr. Brian Hare, Chief Science Officer, Canines, Inc, Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board for Canines Inc., and Associate Professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University and creator of Dognition.com. In May 2015, Ricochet appeared in Nat Geo Wild's "Is Your Dog A Genius" hosted by Dr. Hare. In this show, Dr. Hare explained canine cognition and how Ricochet uses empathy (the ability to understand and share the feelings of others) while identifying, responding and communicating with veterans who have PTSD.
Since Ricochet's video went viral she has turned the attention into a platform for raising awareness and funds for human and animal causes. She has appeared at many community events in the San Diego area. She has served as the Grand Marshal at the Navy Woof Walk in 2014 and 2015.
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Wikipedia