Yesterday at 5:58 PM • Modified yesterday at 9:44 PM
It is organized chaos at the dachshund racing in Zevenbergen. The aim of the match is simple: which tackle will reach the finish line first? But in practice this turns out to be more difficult than expected. “They don’t walk in their own lane and just look where they want to go,” says Inge Leijtens, announcer at the dachshund racing.
“Dachshunds and chaos, you always say that in one sentence. It’s always chaos,” Inge laughs. According to her, that’s what makes dachshund racing so much fun. There are official tackling races in many countries, but in Zevenbergen things are slightly different. “We do it here as a club, a little less official, but just as fun.”
Practice with cuddly toys
Dachshund Lola gets a bit distracted from the Omroep Brabant camera during her competition. Owner Fiona Beekman and her son Ricky Hotting can laugh about that. “She loves cameras and she is also very photogenic. She can run fast, but not in the right direction,” says Fiona, laughing.
Fiona and Ricky mainly participate for the fun they have and the fun of the dog. Yet they also trained a little bit in advance. “We regularly practice with cuddly toys that have a good color. They go well with yellow or red,” says Fiona.
“We should put the camera behind the finish line,” Ricky jokes. Even though Lola walked in the wrong direction, they had a nice day. “We laughed a lot and that’s the most important thing,” Fiona concludes.
Dachshund racing in Zevenbergen (photo: Omroep Brabant).
Special achievement
In recent years, announcer Inge has seen many special tactics used by owners to get their dachshund across the finish line first. “I’ve seen people have frankfurters or frikandels and someone has also opened a bag of chips at the finish.” According to her, these are all ways to attract your Dachshund to you. “You have to drive your dachshund crazy.”
The competition went well for dachshund Lodewijck and that is a special achievement, says owner Jeaneth Veth: “He has just recovered from a serious operation, so it is great what he has done now.”
They were therefore unable to train in advance. “He had surgery on two legs because they had grown incorrectly. There are now four plates and eighteen pins in them, so I am very proud of him,” says Jeaneth with a big smile.
The cutest dachshund
It remains to be seen whether Lodewijck will win prizes today. Announcer Inge says that there are great prizes to be won. “Eternal fame as dachshund racing champion 2026 of Brabant and Zeeland and a whole bag of food.”
But according to her, it’s mainly about fun. “In the end, the best thing is that you can take home the cutest dachshund again and that is your own dachshund.”
