Welcome to Our Flyball Site

Flyball is a team sport for dogs that was invented in California in the late 70's. Legend has it that Herbert Wagner first showed it on the Johnny Carson Show to millions of Americans. Soon afterwards dog trainers and dog clubs were making and using Flyball Boxes. In the early 80's people became so enthusiastic about the sport that the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed. NAFA is now the worldwide authority for Flyball and over 300 sanctioned tournaments are held each year.

Flyball is a relay race with 4 dogs on a team. The course consists of a starting line, 4 hurdles spaced 10 feet apart and a box. The first hurdle is 6 feet from the start line and the box is 15 feet from the last hurdle for a 51 foot overall length. The dogs jump the hurdles and steps on a spring loaded box that shoots out a tennis ball. The dog catches the tennis ball and then runs back over the 4 hurdles. When the dog crosses the starting line the next dog goes. The first team to have all 4 dogs run without errors wins the heat. All dogs including mixed breeds are eligible to compete and earn titles in NAFA sanctioned tournaments. After each heat, depending on the time of racing, points are awarded to team of 4 dogs. In any heat completed under 24 seconds, the dogs receive 25 points, under 28 seconds, 5 points are given, and under 32 seconds, 1 point is given to each dog. Dogs race to earn points which gain them titles and awards from NAFA and of course bragging rights. Some of the titles dogs can earn are: Flyball Dog Champion, Flyball Dog Master and so on.

Tournaments are divided into divisions so that teams compete against other teams of equal abilities and usually organized in either a double elimination or round robin format. Double elimination is usually best of 3 or best of 5. Round robin is usually best 3 out of 5 and the first team to win 3 heats receives 1 point towards their standing in the tournament. The hurdles' heights are dependent upon the height of the dogs in the team -- 4" below the shoulder height of the shortest dog. 8" is the minimum height and 16" is the maximum height.