What is Flyball?

Flyball is a relay race between two teams of dogs and handlers. There are four dogs per team that will race in a given heat. Each dog on the team is released by his handler, then he must go over four hurdles in a row, trigger a flyball box which ejects a tennis ball, grab the ball, and return over the four jumps carrying the ball. Then the next dog on the team can run. Sounds easy doesn't it?

The hurdles are 10 feet apart from each other. 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 flyball box is a spring loaded box that shoots out a tennis ball when the front pedal is pushed by the dog. The dog can make an error by missing one or more jumps, forgetting or dropping the ball, or starting before the dog before him is done. If an error occurs then the dog must run the course again. The first team to run each dog without error wins. The hurdles height are dependent on the smallest dog on the team. The dogs are measured 4" below the shoulder height, 8" is the minimum height and 16" is the maximum height.