More than 50 dogs from across the United States came together for the seventh annual surfing competition in San Diego, the Daily Mail reports.

The canines competed in a series of heats, subdivided according to size, before being judged on their best two waves.

Teevan McManus, one of the judges on the panel for the competition in California, told Sky News they were looking for a 'little bit of extra flair' when making their judgements:

'From the way they're dressed up to maybe some sunglasses, whatever it might be...we're always looking for something that stands out.'

This year's first place winner in the small dog category was Abbie Girl, an Australian Kelpie, who was accompanied by owner Michael Uy.

Although it was the third time that the dog has collected gold in the competition, her owner said they were not expecting victory this time around:

'This year I was injured so (we were) a little bit of an underdog coming in, but we do this because we love surfing together in the water.'

And the surfing wasn't just in the interests of entertainment, with the dogs also helping out their chums by raising money for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.