In surfing, overly enthusiastic displays of excitement are frowned upon, in contrast to, say, bowling. And fencing? By that measure, these dogs are some of the most soulful surfers on the planet. At last weekend’s fifth annual Surf City Surf Dog competition in Huntington Beach, California, the dogs were cool. Stoic. They rode the waves with what appeared to be only a vague sense of what they were doing, just like proper surfers. Like it was no big deal. “Oh, this? I’m just a riding a wave, and I’m a dog.” Their expressions changed little from taking off to trimming to stepping from the board to the beach. True, those expressions often had a hint of unease to them, but we’ll put that down to concentration. They were badass.

Oh, and surfing dogs can now surf backward. You’d be amazed at how many human surfers can’t surf backward. New ground, people.

Here’s some pictures of the event. We have no idea who won, but we don’t care.