Home Page


	[ Conformation ] [ Flyall ] [ Herding ]

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 do 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 that last hurdle for an 51 foot overall length. The dog jumps 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 format. Double elimination is usually best out of 3 or best out 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 hurdles is 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.

The dogs earn points toward flyball titles based on the team’s time:

· Less than 32 sec.: Each dog receives 1 point

· Less than 28 sec.: Each dog receives 5 points

· Less than 24 sec.: Each dog receives 25 points

The titles the dogs can earn are:

FD – Flyball Dog

FDX – Flyball Dog Excellent

FDCh – Flyball Dog Champion

FM – Flyball Master

FMX – Flyball Master Excellent

FMCh – Flyball Master Champion

ONYX – ONYX Award