What is Flyball Racing?

Flyball is fast and furious, it is a relay drag race for teams of dogs.  In a typical Flyball tournament there are lots of dogs and handlers charged on adrenaline and having a ball!  Flyball is the only dog sport 100% focused on teams of dogs and handlers.

In a normal flyball race, there are two teams of four dogs, one team in the left lane, and one in the right.  Each lane has a start gate, four jumps, and a trigger loaded box.  To complete a flyball run successfully, each dog in the team needs to jump over the 4 jumps on the way to the box, trigger the box to eject a ball, grab the ball and race back over the four jumps to their handler.  Handlers work with the other handlers and dogs in their team to fine tune their passing with the aim of getting each dog to pass the next just as it crosses the start line (to get the fastest time possible for their team), trying to avoid crossing the start line before the previous dog does.  (When a foul pass or other error occurs and the dog that made the mistake needs to be "rerun" and no title points are earned for the heat).

When the judge starts a race he tells the teams to "Watch the lights!"  Each team aims to get their first dog over the start line just as the drag lights turn green.  There is lots of calling and cheering and reward games with tuggy and food for dogs.  The first team to get all four dogs over the line without errors or fouls wins the heat.  Each race has 3 to 5 heats, and races are run so teams run against each other in a round robin or double elimination format in different speed divisions.

If you watch flyball and see a small dog with a group of larger dogs, that small dog is performing a very important task for the team.  The height of the jumps is 4 inches less than the shoulder height of the smallest dog in a team for the particular heat (minimum jump height of 7", and maximum of 14").   The smallest dog in a team is known as "the height dog" as its height determines the jump height for the whole team. The reduced height jumps make it easier for the bigger dogs to run faster.

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Each team consists of four dogs racing in each heat, plus up to two reserves.  Reserves can be interchanged after each heat.  There are between three and five heats to a race, and a team has to win a majority to win the race.

When you think about it, Flyball encompasses all things that dogs love to do - jumping, catching, retrieving, competing and striving to please their owners. Flyball is a sport in which any dog can participate, regardless of breed, shape or size.  Flyball does not interfere with obedience training.  In fact, the sport reinforces the disciplines taught in obedience class.

Besides being great for dogs, flyball is a lot of fun for people too!  It is a great way to meet people locally and all around Australia.  The team-work aspects bring people together as they strive to improve their team's performance.  Flyball can be as competitive as you want to make it.  The best part of all is just having fun with your dog, and seeing the look of excitement on your dog's face at the start of a day of racing, and the look of content at the end of the day.

More specifically.....

A flyball course consists of two racing lanes, side by side down a 51-foot (15.54m) course.  There are two sets of hurdles and flyball boxes.  Each team's racing lane consists of 4 hurdles spaced at 10 feet (3.05m) intervals.  The first hurdle being 6 feet (1.84m) from the start/finish line and a flyball box is placed 15 feet (4.57m) after the fourth hurdle.  The flyball box ejects a ball after the dog triggers the pedal on the front of the box.

Each dog must run in relay fashion down over the hurdles, trigger the box, retrieve the ball and return over the hurdles and across the finish line so that the next dog can be released.  The first team to have all four dogs complete the course, without error, wins the heat.  Missed hurdles and dropped balls require the dog to rerun the course after the rest of the team has finished.

Jump heights for each team are set at 5 inches (12.7cm) lower than the shoulder height of the smallest dog in the team.  The minimum height is 7 inches (17.8cm) and the maximum 14 inches (35.6cm).

Competitions are run in divisions, based on where the teams are seeded. The fastest teams are put in Division 1 and the slower teams in Division 2 etc.  This enables every team to have a fair go and be competitive in their division.