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 to govern the sport of flyball in the United States and Canada.
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 dog catches 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 complete the run without errors wins the heat.
The hurdle height is dependent on the height of the dogs on the team--4 inches below the shoulder height of the shortest dog. 8 inches is the minimum height and 16 inches is the maximum height.
Teams enter NAFA sanctioned tournament so the dogs can earn points toward flyball titles.
The titles dogs can earn are:
FD Flyball Dog 20 points
FDX Flyball Dog Excellent 100 points
FDCh Flyball Dog Champion 500 points
FM Flyball Dog Master 5,000 points
FMX Flyball Master Excellent 10,000 points
FMCh Flyball Master Champion 15,000 points
ONYX ONYX Award 20,000 points
FGDCh Flyball Grand Champion 30,000 points
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