Flyball!

Lots of my buds do flyball, and they love it!!! They even asked me to be on a team - very flattering! But, agility is my sport.

So we go and watch my buds compete in flyball now and then - wow, is it intense! We hope you enjoy this lens and learn more about the great sport of flyball.

Dogs love sports and you will too! Whatever sport you choose - just be sure and have FUN!!!!! 

And when you get a chance, check out my other lenses.

In flyball two teams of four dogs each race side-byside over a 51 foot long course.

Each dog runs in a relay down the four jumps, triggers a flyball box that releases the ball, they retrieve the ball and return over the jumps.

Then the next dog is release to run the course. Subsequent dogs can't cross the start/finish line until the previous dog has returned over all four jumps and reached the start/finish line.

The first team with all 4 dogs finishing the course without error wins the heat.

Jump height is determined by the smallest dog on the team. This dog, called the "height dog", is measured at the withers, then that number is rounded down to the nearest inch and another 4" is subtracted to get the jump height (with the minimum jump height being 7"). So a 13 1/4" dog would round down to 13", minus 4", would jump 9". Maximum jump height is 14".

With the onset of the Electronic Judging System (EJS), which uses lights and infrared timing sensors, competitors are able to track their starts, passes, finishes, and individual dogs' times to the thousandth of a second.

It's hard to imagine racing without an EJS in this day and age. Many teams run all 4 dogs through the course in less than 20 seconds.

The NAFA World Record is now under 16.0 seconds (and closing in on 15.0).

NAFA tournaments are divided into divisions so that teams compete against other teams of equal abilities. All dogs including mixed breeds are eligible to compete and earn titles in NAFA sanctioned tournaments.

Titles are earned via a point system based on the time it takes a dog's team to complete each heat race.

NAFA currently has over 700 registered clubs with more than 16,000 registered dogs.

Thanks for the photo by RingoCalamity on Flickr!

Visit "What Is Flyball" for more info too!

According to the North American Flyball Association, flyball got its start in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when a group of dog trainers in Southern California created scent discrimination hurdle racing, then put a guy at the end to throw tennis balls to the dogs when they finished the jump line.

It didn't take long for the group to decide to build some sort of tennis ball-launching apparatus, and the first flyball box was born.

Herbert Wagner is credited with developing the first flyball box, and apparently he did a flyball demo on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson that got a lot of peoples attention.

Subsequently, the new dog sport for dog enthusiasts was introduced in the Toronto-Detroit area by several dog training clubs. After a few small tournaments were held in conjunction with dog shows, the first ever flyball tournament was held in 1983.

In November, 1984, twelve teams from the Toronto-Detroit area formed the North American Flyball Association (NAFA). Mike Randall wrote the first NAFA rulebook in 1985, and was also the first NAFA Executive Director. The first head judge was Dave Samuels.

Thanks for the photo by RingoCalamity on Flickr!

Be sure and visit my website - JohannTheDog.com - where you can shop for cool stuff for cool dogs!

We've put together, in one place, all the cool stuff you need for your dog!

Find dog beds, all natural foods and treats, collars, leashes,charms, training and agility gear, vitamins and supplements, books, clothing, toys and more!

And the best part is that we donate 10% of our profits to dog rescues and shelters!

Here is a listing of the various governing bodies for flyball around the world.

British Flyball varies to US Flyball in how the dog catches the ball from the flyball box. But many of the other rules remain the same. This is a great intro to the workings of flyball.

The dogs earn points towards flyball titles based on the teams time:

* less than 32 secs: Each dog receives 1 point

* less than 28 secs: Each dog receives 5 points

* less than 24 secs: Each dog receives 25 points

The titles the dogs can earn are:

• FD Flyball Dog 20 points required
• FDX Flyball Dog Excellent 100 points required
• FDCh Flyball Dog Champion 500 points required
• FDCh Silver Flyball Dog Champion 1000 points required
• FDCh Gold Flyball Dog Champion 2500 points required
• FM Flyball Master 5000 points required
• FMX Flyball Master Excellent 10000 points required
• FMCh Flyball Master Champion 15000 points required
• ONYX ONYX Award 20000 points required
• FGDCh Flyball Grand Champion 30000 points required
• FGDCh 40k, 50k,... Flyball Grand Champion 40k, 50k, ... 40000, 50000, ...points required
• Hobbes Hobbes Award 100,000 points required

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