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Flyball is a high-speed relay race between two teams of four dogs. Each dog must clear a set of four jumps, retrieve a tennis ball ejected from a box triggered by pushing on a triggering mechanism, and return over the four jumps.
Flyball is a fast and exciting sport, not only for the spectators and handlers, but for the dogs too! As the teams line up, the excitement builds and, with each dog very eager to compete, sometimes it is all the handlers can do to hold their dogs.
The first dog from each team is released simultaneously in its own racing lane, which are parallel and about 10 - 20 feet apart. They race side by side jumping over a set of four jumps, from 8" to 16" high, depending on the shortest dog on the team, set ten feet apart. At the end of each lane is a flyball box, which each dog must step on to release the tennis ball.
When the dog catches the ball, it then returns over the four jumps with the ball. As each dog crosses the 'start/finish' line another eager dog is released. The first team to have all four dogs successfully complete a run wins the heat.
In case this doesn't sound exciting enough, note that the current official record time for all four dogs on a team to complete the 102-foot roundtrip is under 16 seconds! That's less than four seconds for each dog to get down and back.
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The Flyball CourseSome training techniques are different for Flyball than for other dog performance activities. For example, team dogs have to pass each other head-on, very closely and at high speed. This requires special training and possibly some behavior modification for both dogs and handlers. |
