Sporty Pups: This is flyball

Throw Olympic relays in a blender with drag racing, and then add lots of barking. Welcome to the sport of flyball.

Flyball was created in the late 1960s/early 1970s in southern California, and a demonstration by dog trainer Herbert Wagner on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show led to several dog-training groups in the Toronto/Detroit area taking up the fledgling sport.

The first-ever tournament was held in 1983, and the sport’s main governing body, the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was founded a year later. Unlike dog shows, all breeds are welcome, including mixes. Over 700 clubs and 16,000 dogs are currently registered with NAFA.

The goal of the sport is simple: In best-of-five heats, two teams of four dogs each race through four hurdles over a 51-foot course, catch the tennis ball ejected by a spring-loaded box, and then run back again, with the fastest time winning.

“It’s really a fantastic family and team sport,” Neil Flood, executive director of NAFA, explained in an email interview. “It certainly was one of the few sports early on that was open to any dog. NAFA has always embraced all dogs. They really only need to like a tennis ball, and play well with other dogs.

“It has a place for people pushing the limits of speed, as well as people who just want to come and play with their dog and have fun,” Flood continued.

“NAFA does not have any breed restrictions, which allows all dogs to compete as long as they can perform safely,” Steve Corona, NAFA chairman, explained in an email interview. “We are very proud of our Junior Handlers, and this is also a very special part of our sport.”

With adult supervision, “young children learn about being part of a team, respecting animals, and sportsmanship,” Corona stated. “We have seen many children grow up in the sport and become not only excellent handlers, but outstanding students and members of the community.

Like in agility, the hurdles are adjustable, and for flyball races they’re set at the withers of the smallest dog on the team, known as the “height dog.” You subtract five inches from the height dog’s measurement to get the jump height, with a minimum possible of seven inches and a maximum of 14 inches.

The current NAFA world record is held by Ontario-based team Border Patrol, who clocked in at 14.433 seconds from start to finish.

In the early days of the sport the times were clocked in by stopwatch, and the judge’s whistle was the starting signal. As technology improved, an electronic timing and lighting system, similar to the “Christmas tree” used in drag racing, came into use.

There are four different classes in total:

Regular, which consists of 4-6 dogs from the same club, where the smallest dog on the team sets the jump height.

Multibreed, where every dog running must be a separate breed (Mixes count as their own breed for this class). Otherwise the rules are the same as the Regular class.

Veteran, where all dogs must be 7 years or older. There are no breed requirements for this class, and dogs do not have to be part of the same club.

Open, which has no club requirements, nor does it use a height dog – a team can choose any setting for the jump heights.

Based on team speed, each class is broken down further into divisions in an attempt to keep things fair. Division I teams are the fastest, clocking in at around 14 seconds.

Based on their speed in each race, dogs and teams earn a set number of points which lead to titles – for times under 25 seconds, each dog on the team receives 25 points. For times under 28 seconds, each dog receives five points. For times under 32 seconds, each dog receives one point.

“The first title is often the sweetest for many handlers,” Corona wrote in an article about the sport for the magazine Pet Care Pro. “It’s the reward for all the effort that has gone into getting a dog ready to race.”

The amount of time investment in training a dog to race can vary tremendously, according to Flood:

“A dog is not eligible to run until they are at least 12 months old, soon be 15 months old [beginning March 2019]. It’s typically around an 8-12 month time period to have a dog able to race. It is not uncommon for it to take 2 years in many cases. It really depends.”

Starting a club is fairly simple, though – basically all your need is some friends who also want to get involved in the sport. Each club can field multiple teams.

“Anyone can start a club though. That process to register a club can be done in minutes, but of course people need to find a group to join them, and typically a place to train,” Flood says. “Team sizes also vary a lot. There are some large teams consisting of 20-30 members, and some with just 2-3 members.”

The Flyball Dog title is earned at 20 points, while the pinnacle is the Hobbes Award, given to dogs who earn 100,000 points over his or her racing career. Another title awarded by NAFA is the Iron Dog Award, given to dogs and their handlers who score points in ten consecutive years.

“My current role within NAFA is Chairman of the Board,” Corona said. “I am also a Supervising Judge for the sport, and I mentor new judges that undertake the Judge’s Training Program.”

As Executive Director of the organization, Flood explained, “My job is to function as the Chief Operating Officer and carry out the day-to-day operations of NAFA.”

The sport’s most prestigious event is the CanAm Classic, held each October in Indianapolis at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, which set a Guinness World Record in 2010 for the largest flyball tournament, with 810 dogs participating. The 2018 edition will have over 200 teams competing.

The current reigning champions in the Regular class are Fur Fun, while Spring Loaded is the current champion of the Multibreed class.

Rocket Relay’s Team A has the fastest time of any Regular team in 2018 at 14.551 seconds, while Fur Fun’s Cashew Later has the fastest time of any Multibreed team in 2018 at 15.798 seconds.

Corona and Flood have both been involved with the sport for quite a while.

“I got involved in the sport back in 1997 when i was taking my first dog to training classes in Winnipeg, Manitoba,” Flood said. “The people running the training facility knew my dog liked a tennis ball, so they asked if I had ever heard of flyball. I hadn’t, but they brought me out to a team practice, and 20 years later here i am still playing.”

“I was introduced to the sport by a competitor that was looking for a place to practice. I had the amount of space required to set-up a flyball course and once the club started practicing at my facility I was hooked,” Corona said.

“I really like the team aspect and competitive nature of it,” Flood stated as his favorite part of the sport. “It is certainly fun to do a sport with your dog, but also being able to compete in something so fast, and getting a whole team working together is something i really enjoy.”

“My favorite part of flyball outside of the camaraderie created in participating in a team sport is seeing the bond that is created between a handler and their dog(s),” Corona said. “There are a large number of rescue dogs that participate in flyball, and seeing these dogs that were once in shelters, mistreated, or otherwise had a rough start in life flourish is really something very special.”

While NAFA is the leading organization within the sport, flyball is a global sport, with many different countries involved.

Other flyball organizations around the world include the United Flyball League International (U-FLI), the Australian Flyball Association, the British Flyball Assocation, and SAFDA – the South African Flyball Dog Association.

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