Flyball is a great fun sport for both the dog and the handler and appeals to many dog owners because it is a sport for all dogs, including mixed breeds.

History of Flyball

Flyball was reportedly started in Southern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was originally called - scent discrimination hurdle racing – in which the dogs raced down a course of hurdles and a person stood at the end of the course and threw the tennis balls to the dogs. Herbert Wagner is credited with inventing the first ball launcher, a ball box which he demonstrated on the popular American TV program, the Johnny Carson "Tonight Show".

Following that demonstration flyball took off as a sport in the USA and the first flyball tournament was held in 1983 in the United States and eventually crossed the Atlantic making its debut at Crufts in 1990.

Flyball has grown Internationally and now many countries hold their own National competitions; a number of European countries including the UK now jointly hold an annual European Championship.

Flyball in the UK

There are two types of flyball in the UK: Crufts flyball and BFA flyball (British Flyball Association).

Crufts Flyball

Crufts Flyball is a knockout competition in which teams (Junior and Senior) compete at eight qualifying events throughout the country, held by dog clubs who have applied successfully to the Kennel Club to hold a qualifier. The two finalist teams (Junior and Senior) from each qualifying event goes forward to compete in the final held annually at Crufts.

BFA Flyball

BFA flyball tournaments run all year round both indoors and outdoors. They are mainly run in Divisions using seeding times to make the racing competitive. Running in these competitions gives your dog BFA points, which go towards flyball titles.

The Flyball Competition

Both Crufts and BFA Competitions are run on the same format except that Crufts competitions start on a whistle and the start and finish are visibly judged, whereas BFA competitions are electronically judged.

Teams consist of a maximum of 6 dogs, of which only four can compete in each heat - each dog running in a heat must have its own handler. A handler cannot run two dogs in the same heat, however dogs and handler can be changed between heats.

Flyball heats are run on K.O. basis, in which two teams consisting of four dogs race each other in a relay race, racing side-by-side over a course of hurdles set at specific lengths, retrieve a tennis ball by triggering the Flyball box to release the ball and returning back over the same course of hurdles.

The first dog in each team is released simultaneously by the handler on the orders of the Judge, runs the course and then the next dog can be released for its run. Great care has to be taken by the second, third and fourth handlers not to release their dogs too early as their dog mustn’t cross the start line until the previous dog has crossed the finish line.

If a dog makes a mistake and does not retrieve the ball or fails to jump one or more hurdles on the way back, that dog must run again (usually after all four dogs have completed the course) and successfully complete the course.

The team having all 4 dogs successfully finishing the course first, (including re-runs), are declared the winner of the heat.

There are three heats to each race and the first team winning two of them is declared the winner and progresses into the next round - up to final

Flyball Equipment

• The Balls – are standard Tennis balls.  

• Hurdle Jumps - these are 24 inches wide, with uprights not more than 36 inches high nor less than 24 inches high.  

• The Box – Up until recently Crufts used a different box to the BFA (as pictured to the right), this consisted of a trigger at the front which released the ball from the rear of the box and the dog caught it mid-air - while the BFA box consisted of the ball being fixed in slot at the front and trigger mechanism at front which released the ball directly in front of the dog. After 2008 Crufts adopted the BFA type boxes.

There are number of different designs for the BFA boxes all of which must meet the specified size requirements of not exceeding 24 inches wide, 18 inches height or 30 inches deep.

The two principle ones (both of which have their advocates) being: -

The Curved Front: - also known as the boomerang box which consist slow sleek curved front which the advocates of this box feel improves the ease of retrieval as the dog is turning and retrieving the ball all in one move.

The Vertical Front; - which consists of a sloped trigger front up to two third of the box and a straight box at the top where the balls are placed; advocates of this box feel that the ball comes out in a flatter trajectory as the ball is sitting right out front.

Both types of box generally have two ball sockets to allow for the bias of each dog’s natural turns, however only one ball is allowed at a time, so it is important to place it in the right socket for the turning bias of the individual dog.

The Flyball Course.

A Flyball course measures 51 feet from box to finish line which consists of: - the first hurdle being set 6 foot from the start\finish line – the other three hurdles set at 10-foot apart and a 15-foot space between the last hurdle and the front of the box.

Lastly the Loader

The ball loader probably the most important person in the team - in that they have to load balls rapidly - remember to put the ball in the correct socket to suit the bias of the dog and give verbal encouragement to the dogs (visible gestures etc are not allowed).

Training at the Club

We hope that this brief history and information regarding Flyball has wetted your appetite to try flyball – the Club offers training from beginner to competitive standards - why not try it.

Training is usually on Saturday afternoons throughout the winter months (subject to the Club Barn not being used for other events). Just ask about Club training for this enjoyable sport

© Copy right notice: - All action pictures are reproduced by kind permission of Judy Longthorn to whom we are indebted