Flyball - The Barker September 2003

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September 3003 Barker

The Sammamish Kennel Club, Inc August show featured a Flyball exhibition.

Photo from http://eldoradoaussie.tripod.com/flyball.htm

So what is Flyball? Flyball is a team sport that was invented in California in the late 70's. In the early 80's, the sport became so popular that the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed and became 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 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 organized in either double elimination or round robin format.