The Carl Lewis of wiener dogs takes a weekend off
Craig Cunningham
Karen Shearer’s 9-year-old dachshund, Kasey, has won the Adult Division II category of the FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race for the past three years. Shearer uses a balloon to motivate Kasey to run her fastest.
A dynasty will end Saturday at the fifth annual FestivAll West Side Wiener Dog Race.
For the past three years, Kasey, a 9-year-old dachshund, has carried the title as fastest wiener in the category for dogs 5 to 9 years old.
The domination that Kasey and her owner, Karen Shearer, have enjoyed ends this year because the speedy wiener’s owner has to work on race day.
“Even if you don’t race, it’s so much fun and it’s for a great cause to raise money for the animals, but I really hate that I can’t attend this year. Hopefully, we’ll be back next year to keep the tradition going with her,” Shearer said.
All of the proceeds from Saturday’s race go to the Kanawha-Charleston Animal Shelter.
The race has grown from 60 dogs registered in the first year to almost 100 dogs last year. This year, wiener dogs from as far away as Virginia, North Carolina and Florida are expected to show up.
Libby Ballard, the race coordinator, said the first few rounds of competition weed out the lollygagging wieners. The dedicated runners get more and more competitive until the finals.
The level of competitive spirit has grown along with Kasey’s persistent legacy.
“I’m sure everyone is out to get Kasey,” Ballard said.
The West Side race isn’t the only track Kasey’s little legs have sprinted over. After her 2009 victory, Shearer put Kasey to the test against the champion of the West Virginia Hot Dog Festival’s own wiener dog race in Huntington.
Needless to say, Kasey came out as the top dog that day.
“I was so proud of her. She’s fast,” Shearer said.
Despite her continuous success on the wiener racing circuit, Kasey doesn’t get any more exercise than the average dog. In her first year, Shearer would take the dog to Joplin Park in South Charleston for a couple of practice runs, but ever since then she’s known the drill on race day.
Shearer says the secret is finding the dog’s weak spot. For Kasey, seeing a balloon at the finish line was en “When they let her go, she just takes off,” Shearer said.
Owners are allowed to bringing a favorite toy or treat, but Ballard says anything that counts as “food food” can’t be used as a doggy motivator.
Motivators aside, nothing comes between some of the wiener dogs and their desire to greet each other in the traditional snout-to-bottom manner mid-race.
Ballard says the races get faster as the number of competitors drops by elimination.
“What you will notice is in the very first race some will just stop or come back to the starting point and one or two will really dash to the finish line. But as they get eliminated, they finish by a nose,” she said.
Kasey has never participated in the costume competition, although Shearer says she sometimes dresses her up as Wiener Claus on Christmas.
The judges for this year’s costume contest will be Jessica Ralston from WSAZ-TV along with Steve Bishop and Jenny Murray from V-100 radio.
In the past, dogs have been dressed in a wide range of get-ups, posing as spaghetti and meatballs, lobsters and racecar drivers.
Thanks to the recent scandal surrounding New York Congressman Anthony Weiner, Ballard says she’ll be on the lookout for the West Side’s own Rep. Wiener — as long as it’s in good taste, of course.
“If we saw something in bad taste, we would stop it, but I don’t think anything like that has happened before,” she said.
The fifth annual FestivAll Charleston West Side Wiener Dog Race will be at Stonewall Jackson Middle School on Saturday, with registration starting at 10:30 a.m. A registration fee of $20 will be charged for all dogs registered on race day.
For now, Kasey, the defending Adult Division II champion, will have to cool her jets until next year’s race, when she’ll be another year older and thus bumped up to the Senior Division to compete against dogs who are 9 or older.
“We’ll be back next year to hopefully continue her winning tradition,” Shearer said.
Contact writer Amber Marra at amber.ma…@dailymail.com or 304-348-4843.
