How Fast is Your Chihuahua?

Fast dogs come in small packages and the 3^rd Annual PETCO Unleashed National Chihuahua Races are just the place to prove it. Pint-size dog owners are gearing up for fifteen regional races in chase of the coveted title America's Fastest Chihuahua.

The regional races will be held during the first three weekends in May. Cheering crowds will root for their favorite revved Chihuahuas on May 5 in Sacramento, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Miami. On May 12, the tiny speedsters challenge the tracks in Boston, Phoenix, Anaheim, San Francisco and Dallas. The final regional races will be on May 19 in Seattle, Denver, San Diego, Houston and Washington, D.C.

Across the nation, the Chihuahua competitors will bid in heats of 10 down a 1/18^th furlong (35 foot-long) track. Regional winners will win a trip to San Diego where the national race will decide the fastest of the four-legged mini-hounds. The final sprint will be on September 2, 2007, at PETCO Park, home to the San Diego Padres. The last fast stretch will be in front of cheering crowds between innings of a major league baseball game.

The current title-holder is Tiger, a 3-year-old Chihuahua from Bakersfield, California. Tiger's successor will win a trophy, a $300 PETCO gift card and a year's supply of Royal Canin Chihuahua food. Not to mention bragging rights only a Chihuahua can handle.

According to the American Kennel Club, Chihuahuas are the 11^th most popular purebred dog breed in the country. They are also the smallest, lightest dogs in the world.

"These little dogs have huge hearts and make great companion animals," said Heather Olson, local store marketing program manager at PETCO, in a press release. "The PETCO Unleashed race is about family fun and about reminding people that there are millions of adoptable pets - including Chihuahuas - waiting for loving home."