I am involved with breeding and showing my doxies, and I have been heavily involved with Dachshund Rescue for several years now. I raced my doxies at fun matches in the past, and we all loved it. Unfortunately, racing has changed from a mindless, fun time to a serious issue affecting not only our breed but others as well. As responsible doxie owners, we realize that sometimes sacrifices must be made to insure the welfare of our dogs. Racing is such a sacrifice.

First of all, the races I attended, even when they were a “mindless, fun time” were NEVER held at greyhound tracks. However, even though these “exhibition only”, fun doxies races are being held at these tracks under the guise that they are educational, they are educating the public in the wrong way. By doing this, we (as doxie owners), have sent a message loud and clear that we neither care about the well being of our breed or anyone else’s. There was a race held in Portland a few years ago that was held on an ice rink. What were the people thinking who allowed their dogs onto the ice? This ridiculous display sent a message of foolhardiness and disregard for the health of our dogs. Racing at greyhound parks sends a much worse message. Many of these races are strictly held as “fun events” but whether or not wagering occurred on the doxie is unimportant. What counts is that we “educated the public” that we don’t care one bit about the Greyhound breed nor the 50,000+ dogs that the Greyhound racing industry slaughters every year. This is TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE. The Greyhound industry has flooded us with literature about the horrors perpetrated by the racing industry; to ignore this is hypocrisy to another breed. Make no mistake; the owners of those tracks rubbed their hands with glee over the increased attendance each “exhibition only” doxie race brought. We MUST NOT allow our dogs to be used to further the exploitation and slaughter of another breed.

What about races not held at tracks (or ice rinks!), that may be for a good cause? Unfortunately, we need to look at the welfare of our breed for the answer. Racing has received much publicity, from Miller to Letterman, etc. This has caused an increase in demand for those “long legged, racing wiener dogs” (and yes, many of our local breeder referral people received calls like that!). The Sept. ‘95 AKC Gazette article on this issue mentioned that rumors were surfacing about puppy mills breeding doxies to Min-Pins for these longer legged, racing dachshunds. No, there are no long legged doxies in our house, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t appear in the local pet shops. We have felt that continuing to support racing in ANY capacity would encourage this abomination and thus SUPPORT the puppy mills by providing them with an outlet for marketing a new “product”. As a home that has fostered many rescue doxies, we will not be involved in anything that will line the pockets of puppy millers and add to the glut of homeless dachshunds.

This is an issue of sacrifice and responsible dog ownership, and the two go hand in hand. Being a responsible dog owner involves sacrifice at times, whether your a breeder and will not continue with a certain line because of a congenital defect, or when an old friend is in so much pain that it is time to say goodbye. Racing, which was an enjoyable event for us all, is now an issue that involves this type of sacrifice. If we have to sacrifice this fun activity because it could ultimately bring harm to them or to our breed or to any dog, WE WILL. Because we love them.