I paddle gently as a wave comes, trying hard not to knock the cute little doggy wearing a life vest sitting on the tip of the surfboard into the chilly water.

“Don’t worry, just go for it,” says Kia’s owner, Rene Bruce. “You’ll fall off before she does.”

I wonder if that was an observation about my surf skills, or the dogs’.

I met up with Bruce and Kia this morning to see just what this pooch can do, and found myself grinning ear-to-ear as I got to surf with the dogs at the Santa Ana River mouth in Newport Beach.

Bruce is in the midst of bringing Orange County’s first dog surfing contest - the SurfinPaws Dog Jam - to the beach on July 11, an event that already has 30 dogs signed up.

Some of the dogs met up on Sunday to take a tutorial on surfing: First getting the dogs ready by standing them up in calm waters, and if they do well enough, pushing them into the whitewash as waves come through.

The idea for the dog contest came from a similar one held down in San Diego, which has a motto: “Surf Dogs rule, Show Dogs drool!” The Orange County event will benefit the Orange County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty of Animals (OCSPCA).

Matthew and Sasha Seward of Huntington Beach brought their two dogs, Luke and Maggie, to see if they could catch some waves.

Luke is a rescue dog, found tied up to a bumper in Costa Mesa, malnourished and flea infested.

But these days, the small, gold Kooiker Hound spends his days at the beach, balancing himself on a surfboard. And on Sunday, he took his first solo wave, as his board was pushed into the whitewash.

“We enjoy surfing, and we’d take them down with us all the time,” said Matthew. “We thought it would be fun to surf with them. They seem to be doing really well.”

Bruce’s dog Kiapet (Kiafor short), is something of an adrenaline junkie. Right after Bruce rescued her from a breeder, they went on a boat ride, the salty wind whipping her ears back.

Then, she would hop onto Bruce’s longboard skateboard, riding on the tip of it. It wasn’t long before he was taking her for rides on jet skiis, and even his Harley.

But their real love is the ocean, and Kia had no fear before jumping up on a boogie board. Then, about 7 years ago, they decided it was time to surf.

Now, she either surfs tandem with a human, or on her own. She even has her own little yellow surfboard.

Janie Bobb brought her dog Buddha Boy down from Torrance to see if she could teach him to surf. She trains him at home, leaving only the middle fin on and putting a bottle of water under the tip of the board so he can get used to balancing.

“We haven’t caught a wave, we’re still learning,” she said.

Buddha has always loved the water, watching and waiting for just the right wave, then chasing the curl. 

“He barks and growls at them,” she said.

Yeah, I’ve seen some surfers do that out in the line up.

Peter Noll, owner of Nani, often has people coming up asking: “Are you surfing while she’s swimming?”

Nope, it’s actually the other way around, he tells them.

After Nani developed a hip condition, Noll was told the dog should swim. She would swim behind his kayak, but would get exhausted.

A friend suggested surfing.

“You’re crazy,” he said. But it was worth a shot - and after one time on a board, the massive 85-pound dog was hooked.

They entered the San Diego contest about six months ago, and Nani took 2nd place in the Extra Large dog category, and 2nd place in the Best in Show category.

Now, when she hears the Velcro sound of Noll’s boardshorts, she goes nuts, barking and running out to the car.

“If I want to go surfing alone, I have to put my boardshorts on in my car,” he said.

More details:

Contest: The SurfinPaws Dog Jam will be held on July 11, starts at 9 a.m. at Goldenwest and Pacific Coast Highway.

After party: Red carpet fashion show later that night at the Hilton in Huntington Beach.

Lessons: If you want to teach your dog to surf, and want to enter the contest, more clinics will be held in the next two weeks. Check the Website for details.