Beans, The Deaf Surfing Whippet, Rides Final Wave Into Retirement

MONROVIA, CA — Whippets are tall, lanky and sometimes a little goofy. But a deaf Whippet named Beans defied the odds and became a surfing champion, a local celebrity, a movie star and a life-changing companion to her owner. Now, the Monrovia dog is surfing into retirement.

Beans, who once won the International Surf Dog Championship, will ride her last wave this weekend at the Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon at Del Mar Dog Beach. After nearly six years of competing as a surf dog, she will retire out of precaution due to some bone spurs on her spine that are healing. But the impact Beans has had on her owner will last forever.

Beans was adopted by Jen Havens nearly eight years ago. When she was about four months old, Havens took her to the beach for the first time to acclimate her to new surroundings.

"She needed to get used to everything. She was born deaf, so everything was potentially scary, but I told her 'you have to go to the beach with me because you’re a whippet, and you’re going to want to run.'"

Beans would explore, sniff, dig holes and run into the ocean on her weekly trips to Huntington Beach. Eventually, she discovered surfers — she would sit next to surfers sitting in the sand on their boards, and even jump and paw at the surfboards as the surfers would exit the water, Havens said.

Havens headed to the Monrovia street fair and bought the puppy a $5 boogie board for the pool, and then the Surfing Whippet was born. There was only one problem. Havens was terrified of the ocean.

Beans learned to surf from Havens' friend, who owns Sugar, a rescue dog that surfed at the Vans U.S. Open. However, Beans prefers to be out in the ocean with her owner, so Havens conquered her fear out of the love she has for her dog. She learned about the ocean currents, her footing and how to stay calm.

"My fears have started to melt away over the years, and the fact that she won't go out into the ocean without me is everything. This dog has changed my life because of this stupid stuff," she laughed. "It’s so funny, dogs surfing. You know?"

Beans loves surfing, she loves competing, and the crowd loves her too, Havens said. She will even lay on her surfboard during car rides.

However, the surfing has slowed down for Beans after she was diagnosed with spondylosis — or bone spurs — on her spine two years ago. It was clear she was in pain, Havens said. Since then, she has not been surfing the rougher oceans out of precaution. Beans, who will turn 8 in December, isn't allowed to do anything with impact anymore, so dock diving was out of the picture, and out of precaution, so is surfing.

"I thought 'oh boy, this is going to change everything,'" Havens said. "I’ve never seen a dog injured in the water while surfing, but I didn’t want my dog to be the first."

After a few months of rest and some check-ups at the vet, Beans' bone spurs have not gotten worse, and she's only had one slight episode of pain since then. She will be able to surf one last time before she retires — while she's still going strong, Havens said. Although Havens is sad to see her retire, she wants to retire Beans in a manner that honors her, she said.

"There won't be another Beans the Whippet, and I want her to go out with a bang," Havens said. "Not a huge great performance from her, that's not what I mean, but let’s go out, be calm, have fun, do some tricks and call it a day.

Even if she is forced to stay out of the water, Beans will continue to stay busy. She starred in a movie called "Beast/Mode," which will be at the Toronto Indie Film Festival later this month, she will continue to entertain her nearly 9,000 Facebook followers and almost 11,000 Instagram followers, as well as enjoy her local celebrity status — her portrait is even painted on an electrical box in Monrovia.

Help give Beans the Whippet a proper send-off at the Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon, which will support the Helen Woodward Animal Center, at Del Mar Dog Beach this Sunday, September 8.