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You might have heard of the phrase “hang 10” in surfboarding. But have you ever heard of hanging 18?
Well that’s what Iza, a French bulldog from Pleasanton, has been doing for the past five years at local dog surfing competitions across California along with her owner, David Fasoli.
And after so many years of coming in dead last or second place, Pleasanton’s surfing Frenchie finally took first place in not just one but three different competitions this year, a milestone that Fasoli attributes to their perseverance.
“It fills pure joy in my heart when I get to do something with my dog and win at it when I come from a background of not winning so much,” Fasoli told the Pleasanton Weekly.
Fasoli, who moved to Pleasanton from Rhode Island almost 30 years ago, referred to the fact that, when he was 15, he lost a hand during a firework accident, which left him traumatized. (He later had surgery to regain some use of the hand.)
Over those years, he acknowledged he hadn’t had much luck in other aspects of his life, including six years ago when he got out of a long relationship.
However, it was also during that same time when Iza came into his life.
When she was about 6 months old, Fasoli said he started to bring Iza to beaches, where she began to take an interest in the water. Then, when she was about a year old, he said a surfer asked if Iza wanted to give it a shot – and she did.
After that, he said it was a lot of practicing in the pool and in the ocean before eventually trying their turn at competitions. But as someone with little to no experience in surfing and a physical disability, Fasoli said it was hard work.
After many years of losing competitions, Fasoli said Iza managed to come in first place in three events – with the most recent one being the annual World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica last month.
“The joy you get from having a dog come into your life and then be able to go do something as awesome as surfing with your dog, it’s nothing short of pure joy,” he said.
Fasoli said Iza has another competition coming up in San Diego on Sept. 13, which similar to the other competitions, will raise money for animal shelters. He said he aims to keep supporting the community and animal shelters through Iza’s activities.
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