Dachshunds on Parade

This last weekend I went to Dachshunds on Parade, a big Doxie event in Ellensburg, WA, for the first time. My friend had told me about it years ago when Chester was a pup and told me I should go but I never managed to make it.

I decided this year was the year because several of my Doxie friends, and fellow Adventureweiner Club of Seattle members, were going. Our friend Sienna and her mom carpooled with us. A non-dog-owning friend that I work with came too because she likes to get in some doggie time. I also really appreciate when she comes because she is good company and is willing to hold Chester and Gretel for me while I am snapping away with my camera.

When we got there we immediately met up with several of our Doxie friends. That was fun. It is a rare occasion that I go to an event and actually know people there.

 

As expected, I spent most of the time taking pictures of all of the cute doggies. The whole things was a bit chaotic with all those barking dogs but I was so proud of Gretel because she hardly growled at any of them!

The even coordinators had laid out some fenced, grass sod in the central part of the event that would be used for the weiner races at the end of the day. There were probably about 700 or 800 people gathered around this area. They had a pet trick and costume contest (check back tomorrow on Wordless Wednesday for photos of some of the contestants).

The Doxie event was adjacent to the farmers market so there was some browsing of trinket booths to be had there. Some of them even had dog items for sale.

They also had weiner dog races with categories. I have never been to one but I guess they have two separate categories – one for standards and one for miniatures. That make sense. It would be unfair to race the bog dogs against the little guys.

They used elimination rounds to pick the winners with the winner of each heat advancing to a higher round until they were down to one dog. We always thought Gretel was fast so I entered her in a race for the first time. She did so good. She almost won her heat. It was a neck and neck race but the dog next to her stepped over the line first.

We had a good time but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed in the event. I expected there to be more Doxie owners there and expected there to be way more vendor booths for us to shop and get new information from. There were only a dozen or so dogs dressed up in costumes. By the photos I have seen before I envisioned hoards of them everywhere.

All in all, I am not sure I will go back to this event next year. Ellensburg is a 2-hour drive from Seattle. The event only lasted about 3 hours so basically you spent more time in the car than having fun at the event. The lack of vendors disappointed me. I came ready to buy some stuff but there wasn’t much available and what was available were pretty basic things like collars and leashes. It’s just such a long day for a few hours of fun. Great to go to once though if you have never been.

Here are some photos of the cute doggies at the event.

About the Author

Hi, I’m Jessica. I’m a Dachshund sitter, President of the largest social Dachshund club in Washington State, a dog trainer in training, and I’ve been a Dachshund owner for 20 years. I have over 150,000 hours of experience with the breed. When I’m not working, you can find me hiking, camping, and traveling with my adventurous wiener dogs.

11 Comments

  1. It is too bad that you were disappointed with this event, but two hours is a long drive. At least the doxies were cute and you got some great pictures!

  2. What adorable little dachshunds. I miss mine so much. Sorry the even was not what you had hoped it would be. Hugs and nose kisses

  3. I completely agree, the lack of vendors and info booths is disappointing, considering the number of dogs and their owners there! It was cool to see you guys there 🙂

    1. Yeah, it was fun to see lots of friends there. I think my expectations were to high for the event 🙂 Too bad because I was ready to spend at least $100 on doggie trinkets there. Ha, ha.

      I don’t think I knew you had a blog…of forgot – which is likely 🙂 Now you are on our favorites list!

  4. Cute dogs! I hate when you are expecting a great event, and you walk away kinda disappointed. You got to see all those cute doxies though.

    1. Yeah, I wasn’t disappointed in the doggies…just wish there were more of them and more of them were dressed up. It was a cooler, gray day in the middle of a few nice ones though and I heard there were over 150 people registered that didn’t show up. They think it was due to the weather. Might be worth a second chance next year.

  5. I have to agree, it was a little bit of a let-down after such a long drive, but I was still glad to have gone. After seeing how some of the doxies were left at the starting gate for the race, I sort of wish I had entered Sienna jjst for the fun of it.

  6. I love the picture of Swift and Kool straining against their leashes. Treats?! It is such a long drive for a short event. That’s why I decided to make a whole weekend out of it and camp. I’ll probably do it again next year just because I love to camp and the boys do so well, too. It’s an excuse to be outdoors, and the Dachshunds on Parade is just icing on the cake.

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