Surf Dogs to Chase Ice Cream, Massages and Waves Saturday

Ice cream and massages for you and your dog, dog beach, dog toys, dog celebrity and, oh yeah, surfing dogs.

You've never been to a surf dog competition like this. Now in its eighth year, there will still be 40 surfing dogs but everything else has changed.

The Loews Surf Dog Competition-Unleashed by Petco will take place Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The event used to be held in Dunes Park in Imperial Beach. This year it will be south of the pier and in Pier Plaza as activities beyond surfing continue to expand. 

In the past booths and vendors set up tables on the grass but Loews Coronado Bay Resort decided to take a different approach this year.

"It's really all about the dogs surfing but we noticed that people don't stay the whole time and we were getting thousands of people to the event but not staying," said Loews Hotels spokeswoman Jennifer Duffy. "The change that we made this year was every sponsor had to create some sort of fun activity for the festival goers."

Among new attractions and sponsors:

• AT&T will have a Family Splash Park where kids can play in sprinklers and adults can test new waterproof electronics.
• Ice cream for pets and their owners.
• Massages for pets and their owners.
• Tillman, an English bull dog with a YouTube following, his own TV show on Hallmark Channel and mascot of dog food maker Natural Balance, will sign autographs and catch some waves.
• Food trucks will attend.
• Stone Brewing Co. beer tasting at the Natural Balance Beer Garden. 
• Unleashed by Petco dog park will be a fenced-in dog beach where dogs can play with Unleashed by Petco trainers and toys from Chuckit! Fetch Games.
• On-site pet adoption by the San Diego County Humane Society.
• A Chill Zone where people can get out of the sun, get food and watch the surf competition via closed-loop television sets.

All proceeds raised at the competition go to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).