What
is Flyball?
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 the sport became so popular that the North American
Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed and they are 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 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.
Tournaments are usually organized in either a double elimination
or round robin foramt. 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' height are dependent on 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.
Titles
The dogs earn points towards flyball titles based on the teams
time:
* less than 32 secs: Each dog receives 1 point
* less than 28 secs: Each dog receives 5 points
* less than 24 secs: Each dog receives 25 points
The titles the dogs can earn are:
| Points |
Title |
| 20 |
Flyball Dog (FD) |
| 100 |
Flyball Dog Excellent
(FDX) |
| 500 |
Flyball Dog Champion
(FDCh) |
| 1000 |
Flyball Dog Champion-Silver
(FDCh-S) |
| 2500 |
Flyball Dog Champion-Gold
(FDCh-G) |
| 5000 |
Flyball Master
(FM) |
| 10,000 |
Flyball Master
Excellent (FMX) |
| 15,000 |
Flyball Master
Champion (FMCh) |
| 20,000 |
ONYX |
| 30,000 |
Flyball Grand Champion
(FGDCh-30) |
| 40,000 |
Commemorative Pin
and Plaque |
| 50,000-90,000 |
Commemorative Pin
and Plate for 40k Plaque |
| 100,000 |
Hobbes Award
(includes Commemorative Pin and Plaque) |