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Weiner dogs raise money for kids

By Scott Fitzgerald, The Southern

Saturday, October 11, 2008 10:10 PM CDT

ANNA - Jack sat proud after wiener dogs from far and near waddled into Anna on Saturday to proudly participate in the fifth annual Weiner Dog Race at Anna City Park.

The races which drew 24 dachshunds from all over Southern Illinois and southern Missouri were part of Kid's Fest, an activity filled day for children and families that helped raise money for Children's Medical Resource Network of Anna.

Three-year-old Jack owned by Steve and Linda Ober of Cobden outraced his competition in qualifying, semi-final and a final race of four participants.

It was a magnificent performance from a dog determined to ignore outside distractions and pursue what was in front of him.

"Focus is the key. Your dog wants to get to the other end," Linda Ober said.

Steve Ober kept Jack focused between races by having the weiner dog retrieve a ball tossed to him.

"We got him (Jack) from PAWS (a nonprofit animal shelter) when he was 1 ½-years-old. He had been abandoned. We have another dachshund besides him," Steve Ober said.

Second place went to a courageous Wilson the Wonder Dog owned by Katie Boyer of Cape Girardeau.

Wilson was born with deformed foot, but that has not kept him from racing for the top. He lost to Jack by a matter of inches in his game-plan of chasing the winning weiner dog.

"He (Wilson) is a champion no matter what. We're proud of him," Boyer said.

Some weiner dogs need more training before they reach the top of the heap.

Four-year-old Barney owned by Jan and Fred Smith of Energy took a few strides out of the starter's gate and then quickly returned to Fred Smith.

"He didn't know where I had gone," said Jan Smith, noting she had a treat in her pocket to coax her weiner dog into running down the lane toward her.

There will be some offseason developments with Barney until next fall.

"We've decided Barney needs to go on a diet after seeing some of the other dachshunds here today," Jan Smith said.

scott.fitzgerald@thesouthern.com

351-5076