so I'm in the longboard shop looking at some unusual boards by dick van straalen and michael mackie , when in walks a lovely girl with the above statement .
Luckily Matt kept a straight face while serving her
" I put my board down on the beach for a minute and my dog BIT it ....there's also a plug that needs fixing "
man , made my day , I can tell you .
[lucky I wasn't down the beach with my camera when it happened , the poor girl
"do you reckon you can fix it?" she continues ...
[and here I am , thinking , "WHAT... the plug, the board , or the DOG ?? "]
But I reckon it was young Matty's opening question that was the cherry , on top of the icing on the cake , though ....
"SO... what kind of dog have you got ?'
there ya go ....working in a 'surf shop' CAN be FUN[NY] at times .....
I was surprised by my not saying anything at the time , I can tell you !
this was actually the punchline that I missed , because I was taking photos in the shop. [Matt sent this to me in an email today ....]
"
Hey chip,
hahaha yeah that was quite funny. i couldnt believe a dog could bite through a 4 1/2 inch thick epoxy SUP....but it had. I must admit i was a bit worried walking to their car with the dog in the back. It was a staffy cross something , I think she said. Who would have thought though , hey ? "
I need that dog...........Think of the possibilities.
I could train it to fly out of the Seal Slayer 2000 as we stealth'd up to a herd of lounging pinipeds..........fricking mayhem!!! I got the crossbow blazing. Stinky (My First mate) would be wielding the speargun w/ auto loader. And that dog just tearing into the squeeling rookery. Ahhhhhh, what a day, what a day!!
How much, who much for the dog....I must have that dog.
I’d love to have a dog like that!! (or two of 'em).
An old friend used to have a Chesapeake retriever who’d swim out to the lineup with us. My buddy would grab his collar and the dog would tow him along. Take that ability and combine it with a dog who attacks SUPs and you have the perfect canine companion. Just sick him after any gondoliers that are stupid enough to defile a surf spot. They’d get the message.
Not exactly an attack, but I have a dog/surfboard anecdote to relate.
Among the crew I hung with in the 70s was a guy who had a van we’d all pile into when heading to check the surf. He had a hyperactive dog who was a lab/shepard mix. The pooch’s name was Shaun. The van was empty with no seats or bed in the back. Boards would just be stacked on the floor when traveling. The dog always got excited when he knew we were close to the beach. He was half lab and loved water. One time, as we neared the beach, the dog got really hyper and began jumping all over the van interior and stumbling over our boards, essentially knocking them to and fro. One of the guys had just gotten a brand new custom he’d waited months for. He was not pleased with Shaun’s behavior. He grabbed him by the collar and twisted it, pulling the dog up so they were eye to eye and nose to nose. He said: “Shaun, surfboards are more important than dogs!!” . The dog cowered in the rear corner of the van for the rest of the day.
Remember the Robinsons bulls at Pakalas ? Some time in the mid 1970s Bruce S , Jeff H and I were walking into Pakalas, The bulls were along the stream and we kind of had to go between them, One of the bulls descided to take out after us,Bruce and I went up a tree on the right side of the trail and Jeff headed for the stream. Well the bull went a couple times around the tree then took off after Jeff and went right into the stream. Jeff was hitting the bull over the head with his surfboard and backing down the stream towards the ocean . Jeff poked the bull in the face with his board , dropped it and made a run for the ocean. Well the bull stomped the crap out of the surfboard which we retrieved laiter. A couple days after that Warn Robinson and the cowboys caught us and we were arrested, had to go to court and fined $50 each for trespassing! Jeff never did fix that board and it still may be under his house.