April 17, 2008

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- Each year dog owners take their pups to a race park, where the four-legged speed demons line-up to zip down the track, in hopes of taking first place. But you won’t find grey hounds or whippets on this racecourse -- just wiener dogs -- or Daschunds, as they’re officially known.

The sport got its start in the 1970s in Australia. But the hobby didn’t arrive in the United States until 1993, when during the Super Bowl a Miller Lite spot about alternative sports aired. And American weenie racing was born.

Today, wiener racing has a strong cult following, filling out venues across the nation.

A national tour culminates in December; the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals are held in San Diego. The event and much of the national tour are sponsored by Wienerschnitzel, a fast-food hot dog restaurant.

Each year tens of thousands of owners enter their canines in the races -- hoping to take home a ribbon -- or at least a good story.

“This is hysterical, this is fun,” said fan Sharon Miggins. “This is a hobby for people who truly love their dogs."

But not everyone is keen about sending the short-statured canines careening down a track -- most race lanes are 25 to 50 yards long – and Daschunds’ long backs aren’t designed for running.

Dr. Jill Richardson, DMV, said when it comes to wiener dog races, there’s little risk of injury -- but the breed is somewhat prone to “degeneration of inter-vertebral disks,” which if untreated can lead to spinal cord compression.

“But, just like in people, anyone who would like to put their pets through intensive play or sport should probably first have their pets vet-checked,” she said. “To be even more cautious, since this type of problem is common in Dachshunds, they could have the pet's back X-rayed to make sure they do not have early signs of inter-vertebral disk disease.”

But that type of injury is reserved for overweight dogs that like to hop on and off the couch -- not for active wieners.

What’s more likely, she said, is that one dog will go sprinting down to win the race while the others jog, skip, and meander either toward their handler on the far end of the track, sniff one another, or head back to the starting gate.

The phenomenon attracted the attention of filmmaker Shane MacDougall. He spent a year chasing tail to make, “Wiener Takes All,” and all telling piece about the ins and outs of the sport.

The race isn’t the only focus of MacDougall’s film, though. It covers the issue of doping, the top dogs’ race to the nationals and much more. The film is being showcased in several festivals, and MacDougall said so far, the response has been great.

"I loved this film,” said Nadja Raver, who was at a New York screening of the film on April 8. “I watched it from the beginning to the end. And everybody laughed from the beginning (when) the credits came on."

MacDougall wonders about where weenie racing is headed in general. And although scandals have yet to surface around the sport, at least the film provided what some called an entertaining view into wiener dog racing.

"Everybody in that movie showed how much you can love your Daschunds and it was really a funny movie,” said Nadja Raver.

For more information about the documentary or for screening locations, log onto wiener-takes-all-dot-com.

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Matt Van Hoven, Pet Pulse, contributed to this story.