Flyball, Facebook, and Fitbit

Last weekend I attended my first NAFA tournament as a California resident. Most tourneys that we go to out here are U-FLI -- not because of any political sentiment, but because most NAFA tourneys on the West coast are held outside on grass while the U-FLI tourneys are held under cover on mats. Since we practice on mats and run for time at all tournaments, we prefer to play on mats. 

The Chino tourney site on Sat morning

This particular NAFA tourney, however, was at the Chino CA airport, and we shared the inside of a large hangar with funky little helicopters and planes. Two rings on mats, great tournament site.

Anyway, since I'm a newbie out here, I didn't really know many of the people or teams at this NAFA tournament, and that felt both weird and liberating at the same time. No drama (that I was involved in or even knew about, anyway)! No history! I'm totally anonymous! If I have little pieces of chocolate-covered espresso beans stuck in my teeth (which I was eating by the pound all weekend long), nobody will notice or care, because nobody knows me or wants to talk to me! 

My ignorance was brought painfully in check on Sunday, when one of the judges sauntered over to chat with me during warm-ups. "Were you here yesterday?" he asked. "Ummm...yeah...?" (I'm thinking, he must have me mistaken for somebody else. How does he even know who I am? Nobody knows me here!) He continues on, "I must have missed you! It's good to see you!" ("Oh shit!" I'm thinking, he really has mistaken me for somebody else!) At that point I asked him, awkwardly, "Who do you think I am?" and he looked startled and said, "You're Lisa." This guy, unlike me, was totally on the ball. We had met several years ago at Cynosports, and we were Facebook friends, and he actually knew who I was (I knew who he was, too, obviously --  he was the judge, there was no missing who he was ;)). He recognized me on sight and went out of his way to say hello. God, I hope there weren't any espresso beans in my teeth. 

Suddenly I'm wondering how many other Facebook friends were at the tournament that I didn't acknowledge or recognize. I wondered if they knew who I was, and if I should introduce myself, or attempt to chat with them, or what. Does anybody else deal with this at tournaments??? 

(In my defense, more than half of you have a picture of your dog as your profile photo, so I wouldn't be able to recognize you from that anyway.)

So I just wanted to say, for the record, that if i don't talk to you at a tournament, please don't take it personally! I am just awkward, and used to flying under the radar. I actually loved having somebody proactively come up to me and to say hello, it was awesome. I will try to do much more of that in the future, and hope you all will do the same with me. 

Facebook is a really great way to connect with the flyball community in general. All weekend long I was seeing updates from others in Chino, and for days after the tournament we got photo updates from Caroline Fenton, who took a gazillion pictures there. It all made for a nice post-tournament buzz. 

Not a lot of steps taken during blog writing...

While we're on the subject of social media and chocolate-covered espresso beans, does anybody out there use a Fitbit? (Fitbit is a tiny little gadget that clips to your pants or rides in your pocket and tracks your daily steps, floors climbed, miles walked, calories burned, sleep efficiency, etc.) I LOVE my Fitbit. When I first got it I worried that I would become too obsessive-compulsive about it and that it would make me feel guilty every day, but it has instead become a fun motivator. I like seeing how different types of days stack up against each other. On Saturday at the flyball tournament I walked 12,213 steps (a little over 5 miles) and on Sunday I walked 13,204 steps and climbed 3 floors (the equivalent of "The World's Tallest Corn Stalk," according to Fitbit). For comparison's sake, I walked 12,000 steps at Disneyland, and the most I've ever walked on it is 15,000 steps (on a Saturday that included flyball practice then a two-hour walk). A typical day at work and puttering around the house is about 4,000 steps. 

We were running three teams in Chino (I only had a dog on one of them, and took stats for the other teams), and we were crated indoors, not too far from racing. I bet there are some tournaments where we'd walk twice that much. Is anybody else out there tracking it? Also curious to see how flyball compares with other dog sports. 

Hope you all have a great week. Connect with me via Facebook or Fitbit anytime!

Free Copy of "Beginner's Guide to Flyball" for Tournament Raffles

Fringe would be happy to autograph the book

In my quest to help create/encourage as many flyball addicts in 2013 as possible, I would like to donate a free copy of my book The Beginner's Guide to Flyball to any flyball tournament host in the world who would like to use the book for their raffle.

All you have to do is email me at xterrier@gmail.com and include the following:

• A link to your sanctioned tournament listing (with NAFA, U-FLI, AFA in Australia, BFA in Britain, etc.) or your club's website with the tournament information listed.
• Your mailing address

I'll drop-ship it directly to you at no charge.  :)

This offer good through the entire calendar year of 2013.

Also: 50% Discount on Bulk Book Purchases 

If you're teaching a class, hosting a seminar or tournament, putting on a flyball demo at an event, etc., and would like to offer copies of The Beginner's Guide to Flyball, I will sell them to you at 50% off the $17.95 list price ($8.98 each) for orders of 10 books or more. It's up to you what you do with them from there -- you can give them away to attendees for free (included in the overall cost of the class/seminar) or you can sell them for any price up to the $17.95 list price and pocket the profits. 

I will ask that you pay the shipping costs for bulk orders, though. I will drop-ship everything through Amazon's print-on-demand company CreateSpace, which has very reasonable (and fast) shipping. 

Email me with any questions about bulk orders: xterrier@gmail.com.

To everyone who has bought the book so far, thank you so much! I love seeing it get out there in the world. 

Now Available: The Beginner's Guide to Flyball

I am really happy to announce that The Beginner's Guide to Flyball is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Here are some of the things covered in the book:

• How to transform your dog from a beginner to a flyball champion, using positive training techniques and the latest methods
• How to troubleshoot many of the common flyball training issues and challenges
• Where to find a flyball club in your area (or how to start your own club)
• How the rules and titles work in both flyball organizations
• What to expect at a flyball tournament
• What equipment you’ll need and how to find or make it

You can browse the entire Table of Contents and read a sample chapter on both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

The book is approximately 150 pages long and contains over 60 color photos from Len Silvester, Dave Strauss, Willie Moore, Todd and Stephanie Minnella, Marsha Lundy-Almond, Sam Bennett, Dave Thomas, and Dave Peake. Their photos really took the book to the next level.  (Many of you and your dogs are in them!)

Several people read drafts of this book and provided invaluable feedback: Kyle Mankes, Stephanie Minnella, Leerie Jenkins, Kate Corum, Kristie Austin Pope, Sarah Proctor, and Lisa Gironda.

I also incorporated a lot of your feedback from this blog. I consider the book to be a two-year group effort. :)

20% of all royalties from the book will go to the National Canine Cancer Foundation in memory of my Border Collie, Vette, and all the other great dogs out there who have battled hemangiosarcoma and other canine cancers. Here is a link to my dedicated donation page there:

http://www.wearethecure.org/friends/beginnersguidetoflyball

The book is currently available as an ebook only, but the print book production is underway and I hope to have it available before Christmas.

Buy the Book:

Thank  you, friends, for all your support and help getting this book launched!