Danielle Ramos’ Paisley, a fast learning and loving doxie from Moreno Valley, won the 25th running of the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals in one of the closest and wildest finish in the history of the race Saturday at Los Alamitos.
Representing Moreno Valley, the tiny and sassy Paisley crossed the finish line in the 50-yard race just in the nick of time after rolling from way back, while early leader Beenie Vonweenie hesitated a tad just as he was about to fully go over the finish line. That gave Paisley the opportunity she needed to fly passed the wire to win the championship race. To make the finish of the race even wilder, Nicolee Leonard’s Beenie Vonweenie was then pushed across the wire by two other charging doxies, all while Mark Kim and Victoria Cortez’s Charlie also passed the finish line at the same time. After reviewing the video, the finish line judge decided on a dead-heat for second place between Beenie Vonweenie from Fullerton and Charlie from Long Beach in this too close to call, dizzying doxie dash.
With a full house of wieners on Saturday night at Los Alamitos, the big winners were the Seal Beach Animal Care Center, a non-kill rescue shelter. Approximately $10,000 was raised to benefit this great organization. That figure includes a $5,000 donation by Ed Allred, the owner of Los Alamitos Race Course. The total attendance for the event was estimated at 7,500.
Of course, Paisley was the other big winning wiener on this night. Paisley is an underdog story as she had never been in a competitive wiener dog race until now. Tiny and petite, Paisley’s tail kick propelled her to the finish line in her trial and then in the final. Danielle’s other team member in this event is her daughter Valerie, who loaded Paisley in the starting gate while Danielle waited for her at the finish line.
“We competed in this event about 13 years ago with our doxie named Taylor,” Danielle said. “Taylor didn’t even cross the finish line. I think she went backwards. After all these years we decided to get another dachshund in Paisley. We brought her to the practice runs and she learned quick. She was doing pretty good by the end of the practice. She was running with a little sidewinding quick in practice. I don’t even know how she was running tonight. I can’t believe she won.”
In her spare time, Paisley likes to sneak a treat when no one is looking. Her other hobbies include playing hide and go seek with her human family and chasing birds or other dogs at the park. On this night, it was the rest of the field that did the chasing and with her $1,000 grand prize, Paisley surely earned a specialty puppy treat just for her. Paisley also won a doghouse in the shape of a Wienerschnitzel restaurant and the title of Fastest Wiener in the West. Paisley won the final in approximately 7.5 seconds.
Following Paisley, Beenie VonWeenie and Charlie in the order of finish was Kim Estrada and Ivan Cano’s Rowdy from Hollywood. Already social media star, Rowdy, the skateboarding doxie, was one of the doxies that bumped Beenie VonWeenie across the finish line. The rest of the finalists of the 25th running of the Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals were Too $hort owned by Melissa Villarreal of La Mirada, Adler owned by Stephanie Stracener of Anaheim, Arlo owned by Beatriz Mitchell of Irvine, Lucy owned by Jason Matson of Orange, Mac owned by Christian Carlson of Manhattan Beach and Mr Weenie owned by Salvador Escobedo of Santa Ana. Too $hort added his name to an exclusive club, as he’s only the 9th wiener dog to compete in three championship races. A total of 103 dachshunds raced in this year’s Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals.
In the first ever Doxie Diaper Dash for runners ages one and under, Shannon Sackley’s Stevie of Manhattan Beach was the winner and stamped herself a future star in wiener dog racing. Stevie also won on live TV on the KTLA Morning News a few days earlier, defeating older aged doxies in the process. The 9-month-old doxie will be one to watch in the 2023 event and beyond.
The Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals benefits the Seal Beach Animal Care Center and has raised over $280,000 for the Care Center over the years. Live horse racing continues at Los Alamitos Race Course on Saturday and Sunday night. For more information, please call 714-820-2690.
