I am not a very social person so I don’t like parties or going out on the town partying until all hours. Therefore, a flyball weekend is my only social escape away from the grind of everyday life. Yet, being without a team right now, I’m going to take some time off, regroup, and reevaluate my options. The hardest thing is keeping my self and the dogs in shape.
My wife and I went out yesterday, set up a flyball lane in our yard, and gave the dogs and us a good workout. Man we are all out of shape. After a few minutes of running my very young high drive Border collie, I was on the ground wheezing after he hit the tug and me so hard it knocked me off my feet. As I was trying to get to my feet I was thinking man I love this game. I really do and it only takes a few minutes of playing that you see your dogs never lose their enthusiasm for the game.
Here are 6 things I’ll miss the most while trying to regroup:
1. Hangout with people that like the same thing. I guess the best thing about flyball is that you get to hangout with people and dogs that love the same thing. You can leave all of the politics behind and just focus on playing with your dog. Good starts and close passing are fun to watch and talk about.
2. You get to eat junk food. Diets go out the window on a flyball weekend. Everywhere you look; there is junk food, donuts, pastries, and candy of every variety. For overweight people trying to lose a few pounds you can forget about it on a flyball weekend. The realization doesn’t hit you until Sunday night while driving home. Man I ate too much.
3. Body aches and pains. You can’t walk for three days after a tournament but you look back and think, man we had a good time. Bloody fingers, hurt knees, back pain are all good reminders of how much fun you had.
4. You might win some cheap stuff in the raffle. I don’t play the raffle that much but my wife loves it. She’s had her fair share of wins. Most of the time we very rarely find a use for any of the stuff that was won but it’s for a good cause, and that is to help the team put on more tournaments.
5. You’re not at work. I know some people that actually bring their work with them to the tournament. What fun is that? When I’m at a tournament, work is the furthest from my mind. I don’t even want to think about it, which is one good reason for playing flyball in the first place.
6. The dogs love the game. Winning or losing the dogs love the game and you get to spend quality time with your canine friends. I have the most fun just watching the dogs run, fast or slow, they are fun to watch.
Happy Racing,
Larry
3 comments ↓
Amen to that from someone is also “regrouping.”
I would also add the RUSH! I will never forget the day my first flyball dog, a lab named Star, FINALLY ran her first heat (last dog on the last heat.) It took almost exactly a year of training and warm-ups. I remember everything going dead silent in my head as I let her go. Watching each footstep as she bounded towords the box. But what really sticks out is not only my teamates, but also the opposing team and everyone from other teams who had come to watch, screaming and hugging me as if I had just taken the gold at the olympics. WHAT A RUSH!!!
A few moments later I realized that she had missed the tug completely and hit my hand instead (I’m a groomer, I need my hands!!) I got bandaged up and ran the next race.
That is flyball, to me.
I also love that, for me personally, taking a break from the realities of world happenings. I am a news junky, have Fox News on all day while I work. When I am at flyball tournaments, I haven’t a clue what is going on – and really like this break from life. I get to check out!
Jackie
Larry, your articles are timeless and I enjoy reading all of them when I stumble upon new ones, like just now
). So, ok, it’s 2010 and this topic can still be felt around the flyball community. I’ve felt it previously a few years ago and I know there’s a few folks in my area who might be feeling this way at the moment.
What strikes me the most about this topic is that I wish it could be avoided…that feeling of missing flyball and having to regroup oneself. I think it is very sad that folks cannot accept each other, differences of opinion and still find it in themselves to work together for solutions to the problems rather than splitting up. You are so right that once in the racing lane all that other garbage goes away instantly. All the focus is on your dog and having fun with your teammates and even the team in the other lane.
It makes totally no sense to me that some people so easily lose sight of what is truly important in our flyball lives and they take their bad attitudes to the extreme thereby causing splits and bad feelings. It’s simply not worth it to be that way and I sincerely wish these type folks will some day be able to see beyond themselves.
I hope it’s not just wishful thinking on my part.
Linda
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