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What
is Flyball?
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A typical course setup.
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Flyball is a team sport for dogs that was invented in California
in the late 70's. 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
the sport became so popular that the North American Flyball Association
(NAFA) was formed and became the worldwide authority for Flyball.
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 step on a spring loaded box that shoots out a tennis
ball. The dogs catch the tennis ball and then runs back over the
4 hurdles. When the dog crosses the start line the next dog goes.
The first team to have all 4 dogs run without errors wins the heat.
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Dogs must step on the box to eject the ball.
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Tournaments are usually organized in either a double elimination or
a 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 jump heights are based on the height of the dogs in the team -
the team jumps 4" below the shoulder height of the shortest dog. 8"
is the minimum height and 16" is the maximum height.
The
dogs earn points towards flyball titles based on the teams time:
- less than 32 secs:
Each dog earns 1 point
- less than 28 secs:
Each dog earns 5 points
- less than 24 secs:
Each dog earns 25 points
Titles
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Abbr
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Abbr
Title
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Abbr
Points
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Abbr
Award
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FD
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Flyball Dog
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20
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Certificate
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FDX
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Flyball Dog
Excellent
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100
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Certificate
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FDCh
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Flyball Dog
Champion
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500
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Certificate
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FM
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Flyball Master
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5000
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Pin/Certificate
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FMX
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Flyball Master
Excellent
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10000
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Pin/Certificate
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FMCh
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Flyball Master
Champion
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15000
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Pin/Certificate
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ONYX
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ONYX Award
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20000
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Pin/Plaque
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FGDCh
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Flyball Grand
Champion
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30000
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Pin/Plaque
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Who
governs Flyball?
In
North America, Flyball is governed by the North
American Flyball Association(NAFA). The complete NAFA rulebook
can be viewed using Adobe Acrobat by clicking here.
How
can I get involved?
Visit
www.flyballdogs.com and locate a team near you! If there isn't
a team close by, don't worry! Visit www.flyballdogs.com/locator.html
and find other people in your area interested in starting a
team! Maybe one day we'll see you at a tournament!
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