11/18/03

Flyball is a game played by highly energized dogs that are ball crazy and FAST! It is a noisy team sport with barking dogs, cheering dog owners and spectators!! Although it is not the sport for everyone those that do it are hooked!

"Flyball" is an exciting relay race for dogs and is the fastest growing dog sport in North America. A flyball TEAM consists of four main dogs and their handlers, up to two alternate dogs with handlers and a box loader. The sport is not limited to any one breed of dog; both papered pedigrees and mixed breeds can play and compete.

In competition, two "Flyball teams" compete against each other in two racing lanes side by side approximately 15ft apart. The racing lane is 102 ft overall - 51 ft. down and 51 ft back.

Each lane contains four jumps called hurdles that are set 10 ft apart with the last hurdle 15ft from the flyball box.

A Flyball box is a wedge shaped box with a spring-loaded front that releases a tennis ball when a dog steps on it. Hence the name "Flyball."

There are rules just like any other sport. The first team finished (without errors or mistakes) wins. Three heats to a race, or sometimes the best three heats out of five make a race.

At a Tournament, it is just like a drag strip with a "Christmas tree light" for starts. There is also electronic timing to record the total time the team takes to finish the race.

The first dog gets a running start but cannot break the laser beam at the start/finish line before the green light. The 3 remaining dogs on the team cannot pass the start/finish line before the preceding dog returns. All the dogs returning must have jumped all the hurdles and must have the tennis ball in their mouth as they cross the start/finish line.

There are hundreds of dogs at a tournament; usually they are all barking in excitement to get the racing started. Once the race starts, they are totally focused on the race! There is a job to be done and nothing stops a good flyball dog!

The teams line up Š the judge stands in the middle, points to all the officials and each team start dog handler. The gesture is, "Are you ready to Race?" Once the judge presses the start button, the lights start to count down.

THEY'RE OFF!! at the yellow light!!! First dog running wants to be at the start/finish just as it turns green! The dog jumps over the four hurdles and pushes the ball box, a ball flys out and the dog catches it and returns over the four jumps. The second dog and first dog should pass nose to nose at the start/ finish and so it goes until all four dogs have run.

If all 4 dogs do this correctly and faster than the opposing team, they win! It is awesome to see and there is plenty of excitement and action.

We also have teams that are not competitive but love to do it for demos and fun. We do many demos every year for all sorts of events such as local fairs, sporting events, company picnics, business promotions and special events like the yearly Bassett Hound Jamboree.