Oakley, the beloved mini dachshund who competed in the 16th Annual Wienerschnitzel Wiener Nationals in July, has found a new gig: modeling.
The athlete, who is now a year and four months old, and placed second in his division in the race, is taking a break and needs Santa Clarita’s help in voting him as the America’s Favorite Pet to be on the cover of “Modern Dog,” a dog-centric magazine.
Anyone can vote for Oakley to place first until April 12. Oakley could win up to $10,000, with a portion of his proceeds going toward the Castaic Animal Shelter.
“If people want to vote they can either vote for free online or they can do an optional donation, which could be anywhere from $1 or $200 to earn more votes,” said Rylee Vanderhorst, Oakley’s paw-rent. “People can use a free vote every day until the competition is over.”
As of now, Oakley is in second place in his group.
“I think he absolutely could win — he has the potential for sure. He has the ‘it’ factor. He’s so cute and cuddly. How can you not love him? He’s an athlete. He’s so handsome,” Vanderhorst said.
In the meantime, if residents are looking for their dachshunds to meet in Santa Clarita, Vanderhorst created a Facebook group titled Little Legs of SCV.
“There’s 100 members — paw-rents — in that group, though there’s probably between 150 to 200 dachshunds,” Vanderhorst said. “And we do monthly meet-ups for people to bring their dachshunds of all sizes and ages.”
