When Pete, an avid surfer, encounters a stray black Lab named Blackie whose passion for surfing rivals his own, he finds a companion and friend, but when Blackie's owner shows up to reclaim his dog, Pete is devastated and learns a valuable lesson in life.
The message for writing the book was mainly that if you love something, set it free, and if it loves you, it will come back. I think that this is the message of the story because he found a dog and he wanted it. He took it home. They had it for a while and when he was at a surfing competition, the owner took it. The main character was devastated. Later, the dog was whining and the main character got him back.