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Everyone’s a wiener

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Sharon Johnston’s dog Nikon, the only dog to make it to the finish line in the first heat, is pictured Friday at The Meadows Racetrack.

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Jayden Morris, 8, and Jaxon Delgiudice, 5, both of Canonsburg, make friends Friday with Trudy Roney’s dog Mojo, before the race at The Meadows Racetrack.

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Jenna Buchheit’s dog Violet gets a little pat on the head before the race Friday at The Meadows Racetrack.

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Jennifer Hercules of Claysville gets help from her granddaughter, Bailey Donahue, 3, putting Mya’s racing apron on Friday at The Meadows Racetrack.

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Jenna Buchheit, 9, center, of Fayette County, tries to get her dog Violet to run during the race Friday at The Meadows Racetrack.

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The champion, Dokidokiyummychums, a six-year-old silver dapple doxie, is held by her owner and “trainer” Jess Golling of McKees Rocks.

MEADOW LANDS – Standardbred horses weren’t the only four-legged racers on The Meadows Racetrack Friday night.

Eighteen dachshunds – short-haired, long-haired, wire-haired – took to the track to compete in the Champion of Champions 2017 Wiener Dog Races.

Dokidokiyummychums (a fittingly long name for a dachshund), a six-year-old silver dapple doxie, scored a come-from-behind victory over Jerry, a one-year-old dachshund in the 60-yard final, after qualifying for it by winning the third heat of the competition.

“It was the best time ever,” said Doki’s owner and “trainer,” Jess Golling of McKees Rocks. “Doki loves to run, and she doesn’t know she’s getting old.”

The event, a celebration of dachshunds and the people who love them, was organized by the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association.

The dogged doxies were divided into three heats of nine dogs each, and the three speediest sausages in each heat competed in the final.

Among the competitors were an Oscar, Max, Otto, Snoopy, Gussy, Archie, Luke and Duke.

Not all of the dashing dachshunds took the shortest distance between the starting and finish lines. Some pooches made a beeline for their owners, while others veered off course. A few stopped in mid-track and failed to finish.

Corinna Blystone of Washington brought two dachshunds, Max, 2, and Mollie, 5. Blystone lamented both performed poorly.

“Max was a miserable failure,” said Blystone. “He wouldn’t leave the starting gate, and then he made a right and tried to exit.”

Jerry, the winner of the second heat, fared well, scorching his competition before he was edged out by Doki.

Jerry’s owner, Holly Zaricki, was pleased with his performance, even though he came up a bit short.

Said her fiancé, Kevin Garbart, “Jerry loves to run, and wherever Holly is, he runs right to her. It was a lot of fun.”

Dawnelle Mock, who organized the dachshund derby for MSOA, said the organization plans to hold the event annually.

“Dachshund races are held all over the country, and a couple other racetracks have done this,” said Mock. “I didn’t think I’d get this many competitors, but we got a lot positive responses about it, and, even today, I was getting phone calls about it. Hopefully, we’ll do it for many years.”

The winner of each heat won $50, and the champion claimed a winning prize of $200.

But really, there were no losers. In a dachshund race, everyone’s a wiener.

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