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  What is Flyball?milogo.jpg

Flyball is a fun sport for you and your dog, any dog, any age, any size.   If your dog is fit enough he can play flyball.   There are starters classes that your dog can compete in from the age of 12 months, but he must be at least eighteen months old to compete in a BFA sanctioned tournament, this is for the interest of your dog’s long term health.
Flyball is a team sport where from a team of six dogs, you can choose four to run in a heat.   Flyball is a relay race where two teams of dogs and their handlers go head to head to win the race.   Each dog must jump four hurdles, collect a ball from a specialised box and then return over the four jumps where the next dog is ready and waiting!   The first team to get all four dogs back, clear of faults is the winner.

History

Flyball first started in California in the late 1970's by Herbert Wagner who designed one of the first Flyball box types. He was invited to show this sport on American television.
By the early 80's the sport had become so popular, that the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed.   1983 saw the forming of The British Flyball Association (BFA) which took on the regulations and guideline set out by the NAFA.
Flyball is now the fastest growing dog sport in the UK and has spread all over the world with tournaments being held in American, Canada, Australia, Japan and most European countries.

The course

Flyball has a standard course that is used in all BFA competitions. The course consists of a start line, which is 6 foot away from the first hurdle. Four hurdles are equally spaced with 10 foot between them, with the box 15 foot from the last hurdle. The overall length of the Flyball course is 51 foot.

The start lights are electronic and stand at the beginning of the course between the two flyball lanes.   These electronic sensors are used to notify the judge of any false starts or change over faults, as well as providing accurate running times for the teams competeing.

The jumps

The jumps are made from pvc or plywood and are adjustable with the minimum height being 7" up to a maximum height of 14".
The top section always has a 1" slat with foam padding on. This is to protect the dog's legs as they jump over and if they hit the jump with force the top slat is designed to break in two.

jumps

The box

The box comes in varying shapes and sizes and must comply with the BFA regulations.  
They range from one, two and three hole boxes. The ball is ejected and caught by the dog once the dog hits the front of the box.

box

The Box Loader

The box loader has the most important job in flyball.   Its up to the box loader to ensure that there's always a ball ready in the box for each dog racing and that its loaded on the correct side for each oncoming dog.   There are several rules by which the box loader must abide by.

Starters

Starters Flyball is designed for dogs who are inexperienced and required practise before competeing in open competition.   Netting or wing jumps may be used to help the dogs run correctly.

As well as competing to do well in races, BFA registered dogs also receive points for racing, which go towards Flyball Titles.

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