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Flyball
by: Rover 411
Flyball is a great way to bond with your pooch, and relieve whatever excess energy you and your dog may have. Or you can sit on the sidelines and just enjoy the activity! This team sport for dogs is fun for all ages and was invented in the late 1970's. Rumor has it that flyball first appeared on the Johnny Carson Show and soon dog trainers and clubs began making and using Flyball boxes. The rest, as they say, is history.
The sport is easy to understand, as it is simply a relay race consisting of four dogs. The course gets a little complicated. It consists of a starting line, four hurdles, spaced 10 feet apart and a box. The hurdle height is dependent on the height of the shortest dog on the team. Two teams compete simultaneously creating what seems like organized chaos. Dogs from each team jump the hurdles and step on a spring-loaded box that releases a tennis ball. The dog catches the tennis ball (most of the time) and runs back over the hurdles. When the dog crosses the starting line, its time for the next dog to do the same. The first team to have all four 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 of three or five. Round robin is usually best three out of five and the first team to win three heats receives 1 point towards their standing in the tournament.
The dogs earn points towards flyball titles (starting with Flyball Dog with a 20 point certificate all the way to the Flyball Grand Champion with a 50,000 point plaque with a Hobbes Hobbes award for 100,000 points).
The fastest time is 15.43 seconds by team SpringLoaded of Michigan.
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