What Is Flyball?

For the dogs, Flyball is simple: Jump and fetch.

For their human handlers, the sport is a little more complicated.

Here's a basic break-down of the rules:

The Game Flyball pits two teams of dogs against each other. As the race starts, the first dog on each team races over four jumps, triggers the Flyball box to catch a tennis ball, and races back over the four jumps to their handler. The next dog in line is released so that it meets the returning dog nose-to-nose at the start line. The race is over when all four dogs on one team successfully complete the course.

The Players

Each team can have up to six dogs, with four racing at any one time. Each dog has a handler, and the team is rounded out by a box loader, ball catchers and finely the all important COACHES.

The head judge is responsible for starting each race and deciding who won. Each lane has a box judge who looks for any errors at the box end of the track. Line judges look for errors at the starting line. Timekeepers and scorekeepers keep track of how each team is doing in a tournament.

Two 51 foot long racing lanes are set out side by side, and each is equipped with four jumps. The jump height is set to 4 inches below the shoulder height of the shortest dog on each team, to a minimum of 8 inches and a maximum of 16 inches. Each team provides their own Flyball box and balls. An electronic starting system uses lights to signal the beginning of each race and laser beams measure whether the starting dog was let go too early (the laser beam system is accurate to 1/1 thousandth of a second), or whether any of the dogs passed each other too early.

Flyball teams are slotted into divisions at tournaments, according to their best racing time. The fastest teams run in division one, where the world record of16.06 seconds is held by the Instant Replay team from Ontario.

Dogs cannot miss jumps, drop their ball or exit the racing area and not return. Dogs cannot interfere with dogs racing in the other lane. Dogs must pass each other at the start line no closer than nose-to-nose. Their handlers cannot put any part of their body over the starting line. If any of these errors occur, that particular dog is taken to the back of the line and run again.

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