Surf Dog has been to dozens, no hundreds, of locations around the country and even the world. He's traveling right now, as you read this, because it's summer and he's out of school. Most recently, he visited Kilauea Crater, to see the volcano in action.

This Web-famed stuffed animal has posed for pictures in the arms of everyone from celebrities to kids too young to even say the words "Surf Dog." Something about him just makes you want to hug him. In fact, this reporter could not resist demanding that Surf Dog sit in her lap to be cuddled, even as she took notes for this story.

The one thing Surf Dog had never done is have a bath.

That's because Surf Dog's creator and mom, Rex Dubiel of Sunset Beach, is worried that his felt covering and striking silk-screened markings might not survive a round of rub-a-dub-dubbing.

Dubiel, besides being a school teacher at Sunset Beach Elementary School, is a graphic designer who brought into being Surf Dog's raised paw of welcome, his upstanding ears and wide smile and the heart scrawled across his breast.

So Surf Dog, with his rather crude, home-stitched exterior, has a slightly well-loved appearance reminiscent of the children's perennial best-seller "The Velveteen Rabbit." In this book, a toy rabbit, a holiday present to a young boy, is advised by another toy in words that have become classics: "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Surf Dog definitely qualifies as Real, as anyone can see who checks his Web site, where he is featured in more than 450 photos.

But Surf Dog isn't just a stuffed toy. He's a dog with a cause: literacy. With the tales of his adventures, he lures children online to read.

He's a dog (forgive the forced rhyme) with a blog (www.surfdogsunsetbeach.com).

His cause is education, "promoting healthy living and learning."

Surf Dog acts as a host, introducing students to everything from Squanto and Thanksgiving to China and the lunar new year. And he encourages children to read to each other and their own stuffed animals.

Dubiel makes a point of telling her log-on audience how Surf Dog eats right, gets lots of exercise and so has plenty of energy for his eventful life.

And she pretty much gets a picture with him with everyone she meets: Surf Dog at Mauna Kea Observatory "feeling a little woozy" from the altitude. Surf Dog posed on a lunch counter in Frostburg, Md., on Route 40 West. Surf Dog at Assateague Island National Seashore getting a glimpse of the famed wild ponies. (There's even one with this reporter, taken the day I met Surf Dog and Dubiel at a book signing at Kapi'olani Farmers Market last May.)

Surf Dog has taught children about geography, ecology, love and loss, that life is a journey, And he has assuaged the pain of Dubiel's loss of her longtime pet, a terrier named Honey, who died Jan. 19, 2007. It was shortly afterward that she came up with the idea of a traveling companion who doesn't require a portable kennel.

Surf Dog generally travels in a backpack and goes pretty much everywhere that Dubiel does. He's inspired T-shirts, tote bags, "Surf Puppies" (smaller replicas of himself) and other accessories that are sold online (go to www.kahuku.org; the proceeds go to charitable causes) and in several shops on O'ahu, including The Growing Keiki, Global Creations and Scoop of Paradise. And, of course, he has his own surfboard, too.

"The kids get so excited, they bring in stuff from home" to show Surf Dog, or suggest subjects he could help them learn about, said Dubiel, who is on summer vacation, with Surf Dog, of course, collecting adventures to share at school next year and adding to their blog almost daily.

The idea for Surf Dog came to Dubiel, a 20-year resident of the North Shore, as she dealt with the loss of Honey while also planning a train trip across the country. She believes learning doesn't just happen in the classroom and she wanted her students to be able to come along with her as she explored the country. The Internet, and, of course, the attraction of Surf Dog, made that possible.

Surf Dog is an extremely useful tool to Dubiel as she explores various curricular tracks; he can take students from outer space to beneath the crust of the earth. He can introduce them to stories from around the world; he can do this online and in various games and interactive learning experiences the teacher devises.

As Dubiel says, reclaiming Surf Dog after the interview: "He leads me."