Aug 31, 2008

NEED FOR SPEED

Palo Alto pup to compete for title of nation's fastest Chihuahua

By Jason Green / Daily News Staff Writer

Two-and-a-half seconds.

That's roughly how long it could take to crown the country's speediest Chihuahua today.

Could, because 3-year-old Chloe of Palo Alto has the goods to sprint down the 35-foot track at San Diego's PETCO Park one second quicker.

To get to the national championship - slated to take place between innings at a San Diego Padres game - Chloe outran her competition in the May San Francisco regional race with a record-shattering time of 1.6 seconds.

The next quickest pup in the pack of 15 that will compete in the PETCO Unleashed 4th annual National Chihuahua finals posted a comparatively glacial time of 2 seconds in April. The rest of the field falls between 2.2 and 3.2 seconds.

Chloe's "parents" are confident she'll be top dog.

"I think we're gonna get it," said Katrina Soledad during a practice session Wednesday afternoon at Bayfront Park in Menlo Park. "She runs faster in unfamiliar places."

That doesn't mean Katrina, 30, and husband Mel, 31, haven't prepared Chloe for her big moment. In the four months since the regional race, they've trained regularly at Stanford Shopping Center and Bayfront Park.

Occasionally, they'll mark out 35 feet for practice runs. Mel "releases" while Katrina "catches," just like in the races.

"As long as mom is at the other side she's going to run fast," Katrina said.

But Chloe is going head-to-head today with two past champions, New York City's Maddy and Bakersfield's Tiger, who laid down the 2-second time at the Los Angeles regional race.

Chloe's no novice, though. She competed in the 2007 San Francisco regional race, just days after the Soledads heard about the competition through a commercial.

The PETCO-sponsored Chihuahua races started in 2005 in four cities. This year, races took place in 15 cities across the country, drawing nearly 2,900 competitors.

While PETCO couches the annual competition as an opportunity to celebrate the human-animal bond, some real prizes are up for grabs. Sunday's winner will receive a $300 gift certificate and a year's supply of premium dog chow.

Win or lose, the Soledads hope to use the opportunity to promote animal adoption. They found Chloe, a Chihuahua-pug mix, in May 2006 at the Tri-City Animal Shelter in Fremont.

"We got lucky," said Mel, recalling how he and Katrina were first on the shelter's list to adopt Chloe, named after his wife's favorite Italian designer.

"It seems like it was meant to be," Katrina added.

The Soledads point to Chloe's past as one potential explanation for her speed. She whines plaintively when Katrina walks away during their training sessions and explodes out of Mel's arms when she hears "go!"

Mel jokes that it's "separation anxiety."

"She can feel that we love her, love her to death," Katrina said.



E-mail Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com.





VITAL STATISTICS

Name: Chloe

Age: 3

Hometown: Palo Alto

PETCO Unleashed veteran or novice: Veteran

Sex: Female

Description: Chocolate

Pet Parents: Mel and Katrina Soledad

Favorite Toy: A squeaky dinosaur

Regional Race Time: 1.6 seconds

Training Tricks: "Lots of TLC, daily hikes, uphill sprints and Royal Canin food."

Most Memorable Moment: "When she was brought home from the shelter."

How did she get her name: "She was named after a favorite Italian designer named "Chloe." The key on her collar (marked with "Chloe") is the key to the padlock of (Katrina's) Chloe Paddington bag."

Source: PETCO