Wiener Sighting

There are lots of dogs in Argentina: big dogs and small dogs, skinny dogs and chubby dogs, dogs with owners, and homeless dogs that wander around alone (I try not to let them make me cry). There are dogs of all shapes and sizes (although many owners seem to prefer white toy poodles) however what I had not seen in Argentina---that is, until Thursday evening---was a wiener dog.

On Thursday, the Wiener made her big debut on the popular show Showmatch. The program, which has been on for several years, is currently centered on a dancing contest that is similar to Dancing with the Stars in that it pairs celebrities with professional dancers, but includes fewer dances per show and more polemical drama. The contest, called Bailando por un Sueño will award the monetary prize to the charity for which the celebrity is competing.

Each segment of the show is sponsored by a product so periodically during the show the host, Marcelo Tinelli, does a brief pitch for a particular product. On Thursday night, one of the products was Tiernitos dog food and the spokes-dog was a wiener!

Whenever they are advertising a product for dogs, they always have a cute little puppy as part of the display, but Thursday night was different. This little wiener was a star. Marcelo brought her up on stage and played with her for a bit. I'm not sure how happy she was about it, given that he stuck her nose in his mouth and then tucked her inside his shirt, but who knows.