Dog sports – where it all began
In my previous post I wrote about the comment my husband made to our dying Labrador Retriever that we would do better with the next one. Our pets have never suffered and have always been completely spoiled.
Our town used to have an ethnic pet parade every year. While this was not a sport my competitive nature certainly turned it into one. I took the name of the parade to heart; starting with the dog I chose to take. Each year I dressed up my Chihuahua and my daughters in matching themed costumes. Our first year Sugar (our dog) wore a “coconut bra” (made out of acorns) and a grass skirt for a Polynesian theme.
I thought the best costume was the year Sugar was dressed as a taco. That was during the time that Taco Bell still had their commercials featuring a Chihuahua. The crowd loved her and shouted for her as we went around the square.
Unfortunately, the judges did not choose winners based on the intended theme and we continued to just miss out on first place. I was determined though.
Having lost the blue ribbon two years in a row I started to see a theme behind the winners – their dogs were in a wagon! So, the following year I truly stepped up our game. Now Sugar went as the Chiquita Banana girl pulled in a wagon made into a float. Finally, we went home with the coveted first place ribbon!
That was the last year our town did the Ethnic Pet Parade so I let my dog events go for a while. I had a Greyhound and wanted to learn about lure coursing. I thought it would be great fun for him. I wasn’t sure how to get started and felt overwhelmed with the idea of doing it alone or with my young children so it never happened.
Fast forward a few years and Sugar is happily no longer being tortured with elaborate costumes for parades. Bob our Greyhound is old and has numerous issues so he isn’t going to be doing sporting events. And Freya, our Labrador Retriever, is definitely not competitive. While I was intrigued and interested in dock diving Freya would only swim when she thought no one was watching and she was at an advanced age to begin something like that.
Now Winkie enters our life. Winkie was an accidental rescue by me when she presented to the clinic needing an eye removed. She weighed just over a pound and had skin issues as well and needed to be in better shape and larger before surgery could happen. It didn’t take long for her to wrap us around her tiny paws.
As Winkie grew she loved to run wild and crazy through the house. We were certain she could outrun a Greyhound. At one point I wanted to learn how to make her an Instagram star with her antics with my obese white cat. We were going to call it Winkie and Fat Splat. I am not savvy enough for that so I came up with something else.
We live in an area that has lots of Dachshunds and Chihuahuas. In our area Dachshund races are an actual sporting event. The Chihuahuas did not want to be left out so some venues have found ways to hold those as well but the Weenie Dog Races are the real thing.
We had bets as to what breed Winkie actually is so I DNA tested her. We officially proclaim her a KingShitChiWeenie. She is Cavalier King Charles, Shih Tzu, Dachshund, and Chihuahua. When people see her they typically only see the King Charles and are trying to figure out what is off about her besides the missing eye.
Our local Parks and Recreation Department was hosting a dog rodeo with multiple competitive events. I was excited to enter Winkie in the dog race. This was not a professionally timed race so we were a little disappointed as they seemed to time every dog a little differently but we thought Winkie ran great. Now I was on a mission.
The Buda Lions Club has a huge fundraiser each year centered around their Weiner Dog Races. I had never been to this event but decided this was the place to debut our newest athlete. They offered a mix breed race as long as your dog was part Dachshund. I went armed with her DNA test and her crooked stubby legs. I did not realize until we arrived how serious and big of a race this was. Winkie had to be inspected and deemed weenie dog enough to race.
Because I am over the top I had been practicing at home and at my clinic. I had learned that the dogs would be in a starting gate so I built one out of cardboard to help her get a feel for it. I found the toy I thought she would run to the best and we started training.
As you can see the training wasn’t going very well – she came in last every time. In her defense she was the only dog coming out of a gate.
When we arrived at the Weiner Dog races I was immediately overwhelmed. What had I gotten Winkie into? There were so many people and dogs. There were bleachers full of people watching the race and more people spread out on the lawn. And these were some professional starting gates. You placed your dog in the gate and headed to the finish line. I didn’t expect such a long track. It was at least 50 yards.
The announcer called out the dogs in our race. WInkie the One Eyed Wonder Dog became an instant fan favorite. Suddenly the gates opened and I yelled and squeaked her toy as loud as I could and oh my goodness – Winkie won! We couldn’t believe it. Since she won her heat we were invited back the next day to race in the finals. She sadly didn’t win that race but now I was hooked.
A local restaurant decided to start holding the races. At the first one they agreed to let Winkie race. Her picture made it into the newspaper and some advertising for quite a while. I also became the official race veterinarian there.
Our next big event was going to be at the Aggieland Humane Society’s annual Weinerfest in College Station, TX. This was traditionally their biggest fundraiser of the year. We were excited for this race. Winkie was registered in both the mixed breed competition and the handicap competition. They had a practice the night before the race and based on the competition that night I was certain we had a good shot at a win.
Overnight a huge storm came through and flooded the area. It destroyed the starting gates. The race had to be canceled. I felt so bad for the Humane Society staff and volunteers as the magnitude of the loss of this fundraiser was written all over their faces.
WInkie started putting on some weight and we decided to retire her from racing for a while to focus on other things. I still planned to get her back into it and then she tore her cruciate in her knee and had to have knee surgery. She is finally back down to a healthy racing weight and her knee is recovered but she is happy being a spectator so we are letting her just live the life of a happy princess. Because now we are into too many other sports with the “big” dogs. She still has plenty of adventures with us so stay tuned for more fun!
