Flyball is the most unique and exciting dog sport invented.  It is fast, colourful and noisy. First seen in California in the early 70’s, where Herbert Wagner first invented a ball launcher for demonstration at his Canine Obedience Graduations. It was fun for the dogs, owners and onlookers and he was asked to go on US National TV and Flyball grew from there. In the early 1980’s the sport took off in Canada and America with the formation of the North American Flyball Association (NAFA). In the early 1990’s a group of enthusiasts in the UK formed the British Flyball Association (BFA). Many of the first in the sport in this country still compete, once experienced it is hard to stop, and the dogs don’t want to stop anyway.

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Flyball is a fun sport for your dog, any dog, any age, any size.  If your dog is fit enough it can play Flyball. There are Starter Classes that your dog can compete in from the age of 12 months, but it has to be at least 18 months old to compete in a BFA Sanctioned Tournament, this is in the best interests of their long term health. Flyball is a team sport, from a squad of up to 6 you can select 4 dogs to run in a heat. It is a relay race, with 4 dogs and their owners in the team for the heat. The dogs race against another team in another lane, over 4 hurdles, retrieve a ball from the Box at the end of the lane and back over the 4 hurdles, then the next dog goes. The winning team is the first to get all 4 dogs to complete without any faults. Flyball is the fastest growing dog sport in this country.

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At BFA events there are also fun events such as pairs and starters.

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Pairs: is a race of two dogs. Normal BFA rules apply although this is not sanctioned by the BFA and the dogs receive no points.

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There are three categories:

Open: Any two dogs together,
Mixed: Any two dogs of different breeds which include mixed breed,
Mini– Maxi: One standard dog and one small dog

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Starters: Is for young dogs (12 months and over) and new and inexperienced dogs. This helps give them and the handlers experience in competition, where mistakes can be made and learned from for the real racing, these are usually run in netting so as to aid training. The racing can be just as close and exciting as the real thing, and just as much fun.

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Flyball boxes are placed 51 feet from the start finish line. Flyball boxes come in many designs, but all BFA boxes have one trait, the safety of the dog comes first. There are two main types used in the UK today, the boomerang or curved box. Also appearing now are the NAFA type, square angled flat front type. With both types of box, the correct training will ensure years of fun and racing for you and your dog, at whichever level you compete

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Flyball jumps are hurdles that your dog jumps during a race. The first one is 6 feet from the start/finish line.  The next 3 are 10 feet apart, the last one being 15 feet from the box. The heights vary, the jump height being set at 4 inches less than the measurement of the dog at the withers. The maximum in the UK is 14 inches, with the minimum being 8 inches for the smallest of our competing dogs.