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Flyball was started in California in the early 1970’s when
Herbert Wagner created a new "toy" for his ball-crazy
dog. He then appeared on the Johnny Carson show
demonstrating this toy where the dog could trigger the
machine to toss a ball for himself. Dog owners across the
nation became interested, began creating equipment
and forming relay teams and, in 1985, the North
American Flyball Association (NAFA) was formed as the
governing authority for organized Flyball competition.
Flyball is played not only in the U.S. but also in Canada,
Europe, and Australia.
Flyball is a relay race with four dogs on a team. Each
dog runs a 51 foot course that includes four hurdles and
a box that is spring-loaded with a tennis ball. In relay
fashion, the dogs runs the course, over the hurdles, and
by stepping on the Flyball box, releases the tennis ball.
They must catch the tennis ball and return over the same
four hurdles (and 51 feet) for the next dog on their team
to begin. Tournament races are run in five heats, and
depending on that tournament, may be the best- of-five
or may be five heats. Teams compete against other
teams in several races over the course of a tournament.
The hurdle height is determined by the height of the
shortest dog on the team (called a "height dog"). The
hurdles are 4 inches shorter that the height dog with a
minimum of 8 inches and a maximum of 16 inches.
Each dog that participates in a particular heat will earn
points towards NAFA titles. While tournament results are
based on races won, NAFA points are awarded based on
the speed the team ran that heat regardless of wins or
losses.
NAFA
* Under 24 seconds, 25 points are awarded
* 24 - 28 seconds, 5 points are awarded
* 28 - 32 seconds, 1 point is awarded
Currently the world record is held by Spring Loaded
Flyball club out of Michigan with a race time of 15.22
seconds.
Titles are awarded dogs based on their points
accumulated over their Flyball career.
NAFA Titles Points
Flyball Dog (FD) 20
Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX) 100
Flyball Dog Champion (FDCh) 500
Flyball Dog Champion - Silver (FDCh - S) 1,000
Flyball Dog Champion - Gold (FDCh - G) 2,500
Flyball Master (FM) 5,000
Flyball Master Excellent (FMX) 10,000
Flyball Master Champion (FMCh) 15,000
Onyx 20,000
Flyball Grand Champion (FGDCh) 30,000
Hobbes Award 100,000
U-Fli
Teams times Points earned
19.999 seconds and under 30 points per heat
20 seconds up to 24.999 seconds 25 points per heat
25 seconds up to 29.999 seconds 15 points per heat
30 seconds up to 35.000 seconds 10 points per heat
Titles Points
Top Flight 100
TF-I 500
TF-II 750
TF-III 1,000
Top Flight Executive 2,500
TFE-I 4,000
TFE-II 5,500
TFE-III 7,000
Top Flight Premier 9,500
TFP-I 12,000
TFP-II 14,500
TFP-III 17,000
Top Flight First Class 20,500
