The competitors flew out the gate, racing to the finish line, their feet a blur, ears flying in the wind.
The wiener dog races season has opened at Old World Village in Huntington Beach, drawing fierce competitors packaged in adorable bodies. On Sunday, nearly three dozen dogs were signed up to race, ranging in size from 6 pounds to 20 pounds, said organizer Inge Mckellop, owner of the Wiener Dog Store in the village.
The races are held each month, leading up to the championships in November. Closer to the finals, races will be held twice a month in September and October.
The four-legged racers pair off throughout the afternoon and get two losses before they are out of the running for the gift baskets that go to the winners. Everyone gets a participation treat.
“People bring their dogs from all over,” Mckellop said, adding this year she is expanding beyond the speeding dachshunds with small breeds races on April 23 and Aug. 20, corgis races on May 28 and July 16 and a puppies race on June 18.
The races have grown since they were started in the early 1990s as part of Old World Village’s Oktoberfest celebrations. After trying them once, people called and called about when the next races would be, Mckellop said. “I knew this is something much more than we could have thought.”
“It is for fun,” she said. “Families come, it is very social.”
Mckellop’s store started out in Old World Village as a coffee shop that her parents opened.
Her father saw an advertisement in the newspaper for a German-themed village under development in Huntington Beach, with cobblestone streets and decorations that reminded her parents of where they grew up, Mckellop said. So they joined as a founding business.
She is in the same unit but has dedicated her store to dogs, at first dachshunds and now more broadly.
“I just enjoy meeting all of these dog people and having an unusual story,” Mckellop said. “I just really love it.”
A pet expo accompanies the races.
Mckellop said other events are being held to help attract new visitors to Old World Village, which has been open for 45 years. There is an arts and crafts marketplace on select Sundays and live music on weekends, with other special events throughout the year.
