Mike and Faith were competing for the second time at the annual World Dog Surfing Championships at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica. This year, thousands of people came to watch the surfing pups wearing brightly-colored life jackets, sunglasses and goggles.

“You guys have a great crowd up here!” Joanne Owen said as she looked at the clusters of people on the beach, craning their necks to get a view of the dog surfers. “I’ve never seen it this busy!”

Owen, who came from San Diego for the event, used to have a surfing dog of her own — Kaylee, who passed away in 2020. Owen brought her two dalmatians, Bailey and Bentley, both 2 years old, to the competition this year, but only to see their Southern California dog friends.

“They aren’t quite ready for the water, but Bailey’s starting to take to it,” she said.

Many of the surfing dogs Saturday had an affinity for the water, their owners said. From there, the surfing came naturally.

Cherie, an 11-year-old French bulldog, loved the water from the start, said her owners, Amy and Dan Nykolayko: Her first time at the beach, she bolted into the water. Then, Dan and Cherie learned to surf together, took lessons in Del Mar, and competed in their first competition a week before the rescue dog’s second birthday. In 2019, she won the dog surfing championship.

“She picked it up faster than me!” Dan said.

Kim Pham acquired her Aussiedoodle, Little Man, with the intent of surfing with him, she said. But she didn’t expect how much he’d love the ocean. The first time he swam, she said, he jumped in the ocean by himself toward a friend of Pham’s who had gotten too far away from the group while paddleboarding.

Now, at 20 months old, he was ready for his first dog surfing championship.

“He did really well,” Pham said as Little Man rolled around in the sand and soaked in all the attention. “He caught some waves on all fours, and he was pretty chill.”

But the waves this year were more challenging than years past, Mike and his dad, James Wall, explained — they were choppier and came quickly.

“It was like, as soon as you clear one wave, the next one is right behind you,” Wall said. “It’s great for humans but a little tougher for humans with dogs.”

As the dogs prepared to surf, first on their own, then in tandem with another dog before going in tandem with a human, two human surfers held the board steady with the dog on it, usually completely relaxed and in their element. Then, when the right wave came and was small enough for the dog to balance comfortably, they would let the dog go.

The dogs would then ride the wave onto the beach before jumping off onto the sand, maybe making a few rounds among their fans before dashing back into the water, as the onlookers cheered.

Even though the waves were tough and he didn’t do as well as he hoped, Mike said the energy of the crowd kept him going — and Faith ended up winning first place for solo surfing for large dogs. Cherie won for medium dogs, and two small dogs — Carson and Delilah — tied for the top spot in their category.

“I’m really proud of myself,” Mike said before turning to Faith for a hug.