Dachshund racing | |
---|---|
![]() Dachshund race in Cleveland, Ohio |
Dachshund racing, or wiener dog racing, is a popular but controversial sporting event, primarily found in North America. Typical dachshund races are either 25 or 50 yards (23 or 46 m) in length, and are run on various surfaces. Many race tracks across America host these events as fundraising or publicity events, and routinely draw the venues' largest attendance numbers of the year.
In the less formal events, most entrants are not career racers, nor bred for racing. Often, dogs will choose not to run the length of the course and instead visit with other dogs or the owner that released them. Otherwise, dogs will run swiftly to their owner at the finish line, coaxed by food or toys.
The de facto national championship of wiener dog racing is the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals, held in San Diego, California, every December as part of the Holiday Bowl; however, many other events claim national championship status.
Dachshund racing was first held in Australia in the 1970s. The early meets featured Whippet, Afghan Hound, and Dachshund racing, purely for fun. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in California holds an annual Doxie Derby as part of the university's Picnic Day event. [1] For over 30 years the races have been a fundraiser for veterinary students. [2] Germantown, Tennessee, a suburb of Memphis, also hosts its own 'Running of the Wienies' for charity. [3] Oktoberfest Zinzinnati includes a Running of the Wieners, with the dogs racing in hotdog costumes. [4]
The sport rose in popularity in North America after a 1993 Miller Lite television commercial that listed odd sports, and continued to grow after the release of Wiener Takes All , a documentary film that chronicles two years of the Wiener Nationals circuit. [5] In 2009, the Wiener Dog Nationals in Fort Wayne, Indiana, held its 16th annual Dachshund race. Zeus, the Germanfest champ from 2006 to 2009, is generally recognized as the greatest racing dachshund of all time. [6]
In 2016, the town of Bungendore in New South Wales, Australia held the inaugural Werriwa Wiener Dash to raise funds for Dachshund Rescue Australia. [7] On 29 January 2017, the second Werriwa Wiener Dash was held which set the record for the most number of dachshunds in one place outside of a dog show with 154 dachshunds in attendance. [8]
The sport was introduced to Canada in 2018 with the launch of an annual race at Fort Erie Race Track, which proved a major success for the track. [9]
While some compare the sport to English and later American Greyhound racing, others see it as cruel and risky. The Dachshund Club of America opposes dachshund races, because the breed has a genetic predisposition to back injuries. [10]
The dachshund, also known as the wiener dog or sausage dog, badger dog and doxie, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired. Coloration varies.
The EnglishGreyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgence in popularity as a family pet.
Greyhound racing is an organized, competitive sport in which greyhounds are raced around a track. There are two forms of greyhound racing, track racing and coursing; the latter is now banned in most countries. Track racing uses an artificial lure that travels ahead of the greyhounds on a rail until the greyhounds cross the finish line. As with horse racing, greyhound races often allow the public to bet on the outcome.
Sled dog racing is a winter dog sport most popular in the Arctic regions of the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland and some European countries. It involves the timed competition of teams of sled dogs that pull a sled with the dog driver or musher standing on the runners. The team completing the marked course in the least time is judged the winner.
A working dog is a dog used to perform practical tasks, as opposed to pet or companion dogs.
The University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest veterinary school in the United States. Established in 1948, the school is the primary health resource for California's animal populations. In 2020, the school was again ranked first in the United States by U.S. News & World Report and in 2022, ranked second in the world by QS World University Rankings. The school is located in the southwest corner of the main campus of the University of California, Davis. The current dean of veterinary medicine is Dr. Mark Stetter.
Skijoring is a winter sport in which a person on skis is pulled by a horse, a dog, another animal, or a motor vehicle. The name is derived from the Norwegian word skikjøring, meaning "ski driving". Although skijoring is said to have originated as a mode of winter travel, it is currently primarily a competitive sport.
The Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals is a dachshund racing event held in California. The event is a charity event for Seal Beach Animal Care Center. The event has been held yearly for 22 years since 1996.
Fort Erie Race Track is a horse racing facility in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, that opened on June 16, 1897. The racetrack is often referred to as "the border oval" because of the track's proximity to the U.S. border. Its most important race is the Prince of Wales Stakes, the second leg of the Canadian Triple Crown.
Picnic Day is an annual open house event held in April at the University of California, Davis. Picnic Day was first held on May 22, 1909. It has grown to be what is believed to be the largest student-run event in the United States, typically drawing more than 50,000 visitors. In 2009, around 125,000 visitors attended Picnic Day – a new attendance record.
Belle Vue Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Belle Vue, Manchester, England, where the first race around an oval track in Britain was held on 24 July 1926. It has also been used for motorcycle speedway, as the home ground of Elite League team Belle Vue Aces from 1988 until 2015, and from 1999 until 2019 for stock car racing and banger racing.
The Race of Champions is a racing organization which sanctions eight different series on asphalt and dirt surfaces, and promotes an annual marquee racing weekend featuring one of the oldest continuing championship races in the United States.
Sam Houston Race Park is a horse racing track located in unincorporated northwest Houston, Texas, United States. The park hosts both Thoroughbred and American Quarter Horse racing each year. The track strives to be a multi-purpose venue, hosting many festivals and events during its off seasons.
Greyhound racing is a sport in the United Kingdom. The industry uses a parimutuel betting tote system with on-course and off-course betting available. Attendances have declined in recent years, mainly due to the decrease in evening fixtures with the majority of fixtures being held in the daytime.
Wiener Takes All: A Dogumentary is a 2007 documentary film that chronicles the lives of America's top competitive dachshunds and their owners. Directed by Shane MacDougall, the film follows five competitors in the Wienerschnitzel "Wiener Nationals" dachshund racing circuit, from the scandal of the 2003 Wiener Nationals, through to the 2005 championships this December in San Diego. The film opens with Noodles' controversial 2003 loss, and the ensuing Noodles-Pretzel rivalry - one that is cut short with Pretzel's tragic sudden death. Only a few weeks later Noodles triumphantly wins the 2004 Wiener Nationals - this time free and clear. The glory is short-lived, as he is forced into retirement by race organizers, and Team Noodles has to decide whether to accept his premature sojourn from the sport, or try and qualify out of state.
Turbo Dogs is an animated television comedy series based on the book Racer Dogs by Bob Kolar. Co-produced by Canadian entertainment company CCI Entertainment, New Zealand production company Huhu Studios and American studio Scholastic Entertainment, in association with CBC Television and Qubo, with pre-production by Smiley Guy Studios, the series premiered in the United States on Qubo on October 3, 2008 and ended on May 7, 2011.
The La Crosse Fairgrounds Speedway is a semi-banked asphalt oval racetrack in West Salem, Wisconsin. The outer track is 5/8 mile and the inner track is a 1/4 mile. The speedway has progressive banking in the corners, from 5 degrees on the bottom to 11 degrees on the top. The track was built at the fairgrounds for La Crosse County. It used to host an event on the American Speed Association (ASA) and the ASA Late Model Series before the demise of the series. It currently hosts annual touring events on the ARCA Midwest Tour and Mid American Stock Car Series. It hosts weekly stock car races which are sanctioned by the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. It was the first NASCAR-sanctioned race track in Wisconsin.
Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is an annual German-heritage festival in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Based on the original Munich Oktoberfest, it is billed as the largest Oktoberfest celebration in the United States and second largest in the world. First held in 1976, as of 2023 it hosted over 700,000 attendees each year. It is held along six blocks of Downtown Cincinnati.