And it was kinda a big deal. Parking on site filled up immediately so they had to bus people in from a make-shift parking lot in a field. Big yellow school buses at that, only full of anxious wiener dogs. Excitement was in the air. Make no mistake, these wieners were here to win. Despite the cloudy weather and looming threats of rain, hundreds of people huddled near the fenced-in race area, waiting, hoping for a glimpse of the little stumpy legs running with reckless abandon.
The race works as follows: the dogs enter the chute and the owners crouch at the other end of the race track, frantically waving the dogs' favorite toys. At this sight, the doggie athletes go into a veritable frenzy, scratching and biting at the gate holding them back. When the judges are ready (there were four of them), the gate is lifted and the dogs tear down the track, leap across the finish line and into their owners' hands. It was adorable.
We watched about 20 races. And then...the unthinkable happened. A black wiener dog named Peanut handily won the race, crossing the finish line waaaaaay before the others. The judges immediately broke into a huddle, heatedly discussing something, looking back at Peanut with furrowed brows. The head judge walked over to the owner and demanded to the see the dog's papers, as several of the judges believed it was not a pure-bred Dachshund and therefore ineligible to race with other wiener dogs. Upon second glance, the dog did look like a mix.
Sigh. Is not even a fine American tradition such as weiner dog racing not free from controversy? What's next? Baseball?
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