FlyBall... Or what is it exactly?

For some people, having a dog and play fetch with him doesn't fulfill the need for exercise for either the dog or his owner.

It might be the reason why, in the early 1970's, a group of dog trainers in California invented the first flyball box.

But what is a flyball?
An easy answer to this question would be that flyball is a dog team relay-race sport.

http://www.americanwhippetclub.net/awcpages/whipfly.html

According to the flyballdogs.com website, 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 height of the jump is determined by the smallest dog of the team (of 4). This dog is called the "height dog" and he is measured at the withers. This number is then rounded down to the nearest inch, and another 5 inches is subtracted to get the jump height. Let's say a dog has a height of 13 1/4", the nearest down inch would be 13", minus 5", which means that the jump height would be 8". The minimum jump height is 7" and the highest is 14".

For a better understanding of the sport, take a look at this explanatory video from www.flyball.org :

A little bit of history
Shortly after a presentation of the sport by Herbert Wagner on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the sport got so popular that the first ever flyball tournament was held in 1983 and the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was created. What had started by an association of 12 Flyball clubs in Michigan and Ontario is now a worldwide activity for dogs and their owners.

Flyball is now a sport that is practiced worldwide.

In North America, Flyball is governed by the North American Flyball Association(NAFA).  

In the United Kingdom, Flyball is governed by the British Flyball Association.

In Belgium, flyball is governed by the Belgian Flyball Federation.

In Australia, contact the Australian Flyball Association at http://www.flyball.org.au/flyball/

Can my dog be a Flyball Dog?

Yes. All dogs can play Flyball, including all mix-breeds. Of course, I would first make sure that your dog is in good health and has no joint problem first, but that is just my two cents. The best way to know more about how your dog can become a Flyball Dog is to ask your regional association, listed above. 

According to the above video, even senior dogs can play Flyball (there is a class just for them). The video even show a 3-legged dog playing it (BTW, that 3-legged dog look fast!)!

There is four classes of competition :

Regular, Multi-breed, Veterans and Open. 

Regular : Allows for any dogs to run on the team.

Multi-Breed : Teams consist of different breed (min of 4, max. of 6 with different breeds running a heat).

Veterans : Every dog in a team must be at least 7 years old.

Open : Combination of dogs teaming up from any club.

With more than 400 active clubs and 6,500 competing dogs,Flyball is a sport that is very much alive.  To watch a Flyball Tournament live and/or a demonstration, look on the websites listed above and share the excitation and trepidation of the dogs and their owners.

Sources :
http://nafadb.flyball.org
http://www.flyball.org
http://flyballdogs.com
http://jetsetgo.wordpress.com/international-flyball-racing/