It's supposed to be just for fun, but you wouldn't know it watching the Chocolate Claim Dust Eatin' Derby Sunday evening.

The first race of the Hot Hounds season saw 17 turn out to run with a group of very happy, hyper dogs.

"It was great,” said Jon Lucas, a participant and one of the organizers.

Even though the Hot Hounds is not an organized league like the Yukon Brewing Copper Haul Twister League, the participants got pretty competitive.

"This is more fun, although some people were very serious last night,” Lucas said.

There is the possibility of developing the Hot Hounds into a "Yukon Cup” next season where racers will gain points for participating in races throughout the Yukon, he said.

The dogs tore down the two different tracks in four different races, with many participating in more than one.

"A lot of people did two or three races,” Lucas said.

In the first race of the night, the dogs had to return to the finish line soaking wet, a race set by the race marshall to ensure no dogs overheated. Before the final sprint to the finish, each racer dunked their hounds in the water.

Lucas said the one-mile course was particularly tough, with a steep, gravel hill to climb and an equally rocky slope to head down before the finish.

Even with the steep climbs, Lucas said there were no crashes, but the racers were happy they heeded his warning about bringing eye protection.

The next event for the Hot Hounds will be the Keydence Cycling race on July 11.

Race results were not available as of press time.