Wiener Nationals 2013

Matt and I were quite devastated when we heard Golden Gate Fields may not be doing a wiener dog race this year. We were constantly checking online, waiting to see if they would bring it back, and finally there it was! Matt quickly signed Hunter up, begged me to start training him again (to which I usually replied, "I'm pretty sure this dog knows how to run!"), and of course, started psyching Hunter up for his next big debut.

Unfortunately, when the time came for the event, I was too sick to go but our good friend Dermot told Matt he would go and help with the race. Our other friend Julie agreed to go and cheer Hunter on! From what I heard, Hunter had so much fun meeting all the other dogs, licking all the children, and trying to escape out to the track so he could run in every race.

When it finally came time for his event, Dermot took Hunter to the starting line and Matt waited with one of his favorite toys- a big, colorful, bouncy ball- at the finish line. The dogs lined up, the whistle blew, and Hunter was off in the lead. And then something tragic happened. Another dog veered straight towards Hunter and body slammed into him while another dog tried to jump Hunter from behind. Poor Hunter seemed terrified (as noted in photo below)! The dog who went out of his way to hunt poor Hunter down, went on to win first place and later race in the finals where he body slammed yet another dog. I would have to say that dog should be disqualified for poor sportsmanship but apparently there's no sportsmanship rules in wiener races. Oh well. At least this year Hunter ran and didn't just dig in the dirt like last year! :)

Matt at the finish line, in a purple racing jersey, tempting Hunter with one of his favorite toys 

Hunter is in the purple racing jersey, looking scared by the mean weenie to the right barking at him, while almost getting jumped by the dog behind him

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Hunter is third in from the left. Our friend Julie had the whole crowd cheering for him!