Dogs compete to become UK surfing champion at Dorset beach

It has been compared to the Board Master surfing festival – but for dogs.

Margo the whippet has become the UK’s dog surfing champion after taking home the title UK Dog Surfing Champion of the Year.

She and her owner, Carl Barnes, competed in the annual event at Branksome Dene Chine Beach in Poole, Dorset, on Sunday.

The duo made it through to the final and dashed ahead on their paddleboard to come first in the “Dog Masters”.

The event has been run by Shaka Surf for the past five years and attracted more than 30 dogs with their humans.

As well as the main race, Shaka Surf also hosted a number of Guiness World Record attempts.

The venue took home record titles for the most dogs surfing one wave on a board, the fastest dog and human paddleboard 50m (164ft) sprint at 32 seconds and the fastest 50m paddleboard sprint.

Mr Barnes had been volunteering at the event and said he originally entered the race “for fun” because Margo loves to be out on the water with him.

“I’ve developed a relationship with Margo, where trust is involved and a lot of love,” he explained.

“If I go out on one of our paddleboards without Margo, she will cry and cry and cry at the gate, until I return and then she’ll jump on and we can go off in peace.”

Since their victory, the duo says it has been “surreal” seeing their faces on social media – but now Mr Barnes said he is setting his sights on next year’s competition.

He added: “I entered for fun, but there is a little bit of a competitiveness in me and when I realised I was in with a chance, I dug deep and bought the win home for all of us, loved it and next year we’ll be training harder to defend our title.”