About Flyball

What is Flyball?

Simply put, Flyball is a relay race between two teams of dogs. It is a sport for all dogs, regardless of their breed, shape or size.

The History of Flyball:

The sport of Flyball started in California back in the 1970s. While the precise origins of the sport are still unclear, legend has it that the whole thing started when a man named Herbert Wagner invented the first spring-loaded box to shoot a tennis ball for his dogs.

Wagner was a professional dog trainer and he originally invented the game of Flyball as a reward for his Obedience students. They used to play Flyball as part of their graduation ceremonies. But the sport was so much fun that word began to get out and the next thing Wagner knew, he was invited to perform on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. When folks around the country saw Flyball on TV they wanted to get involved too. Soon afterwards dog trainers and dog clubs were making and using Flyball Boxes. The sport especially took off in Canada and the Great Lakes states. Folks there started having local tournaments and competitions and the popularity of Flyball grew.

In the early 80's the sport became so popular that the North American Flyball Association (NAFA®) was formed and became the worldwide authority for Flyball. Over the years the popularity of Flyball has continued to grow. NAFA® now has over 900 Flyball clubs with more than 10,000 registered flyball dogs. The sport is played not only in the U.S. and Canada, but also in Australia, Japan, England, Belgium and other countries around the world.

In early 2005, the United Flyball League International Inc. (U-FLI^TM), was founded as an alternative to NAFA rules and sanctioning. Under U-FLI, ball boxes are allowed to be larger, jump heights have been lowered to six (6) inches minimum and twelve (12) inches maximum, single and pairs racing are allowed and dogs are allowed to compete on other teams (pick-up teams) to earn title points.

Typical racing lane

The Course:

The course consists of a starting line, four hurdles spaced ten (10) feet apart, and a box. The first hurdle is six (6) feet from the start line and the box is fifteen (15) feet from the last hurdle for a fifty-one (51) foot overall length. The hurdle height is dependent upon the height of the smallest dog (the "height dog") on the team. Racing side by side, four dogs per team, the dogs jump the hurdles trigger a spring loaded box that shoots out a ball, catch the ball and run back over the four hurdles to the start/finish line. When the first dog crosses the start/finish line the next dog goes. This is repeated until all four dogs have run.

The team having the fastest time, with all four dogs crossing the start/finish line, wins the heat. If a dog makes an error during its run it must re-run the course for the team’s time to count.

The world's fastest time is 14.558 seconds set on December 08, 2012 in Hurricane, Utah by Touch N Go of Las Vegas, Nevada.

A modern flyball box

An early flyball box

How Your Dog Earns Flyball Titles:

In addition to the trophies and ribbons your dog can win from Flyball racing, your dog can also earn official NAFA/U-FLI titles. The titles are awarded on a point system based upon the teams speed in each completed heat. A team does not have to win the heat in order to receive points.

NAFA's minimum hurdle height is 7", with 14" being the maximum height. In NAFA, the dogs earn points toward flyball titles based on the team's total time.

Finish less than 24 secs: Each dog receives 25 points.

Finish less than 28 secs: Each dog receives 5 points.

Finish less than 32 secs: Each dog receives 1 point

Flyball dogs competing in NAFA heat races can earn the following titles.

Abbreviation Title Points

     FD Flyball Dog 20

     FDX Flyball Dog Excellent 100

     FDCh Flyball Dog Champion 500

     FM Flyball Master 5,000

     FMX Flyball Master Excellent 10,000

     FMCh Flyball Master Champion 15,000

     ONYX ONYX Award 20,000

     FGDCh * Flyball Grand Champion 30,000

     HOBBES HOBBES Awards 100,000

* 30,000 thru 90,000 points, add the 30/40/50/60/70/80/90 tag after FGDCh (FGDCh-30, etc.)

In 2004, two additional titles were added after FDCh. They are FDCh-S/Flyball Dog Champion-Silver (1,000 points) and FDCh-G/Flyball Dog Champion-Gold (2,500 points).

For U-FLI, the minimum and maximum hurdle heights are 6" and 12" respectively. In U-FLI, dogs earn points based on how fast the team runs and whether the team wins:

Finish less than 20 secs: Each dog receives 30 points
Finish less than 25 secs: Each dog receives 25 points
Finish less than 30 secs: Each dog receives 15 points
Finish less than 35 secs: Each dog receives 10 points
Winning heat: Each dog receives an extra 5 points

Flyball dogs competing in U-FLI heat races can earn the following titles.

Abbreviation Title Points

     TF Top Flight 100

     TF-I Top Flight One 500

     TF-II Top Flight Two 750

     TF-III Top Flight Three 1,000

     TFE Top Flight Executive 2,500

     TFE-I Top Flight Executive One 4,000

     TFE-II Top Flight Executive Two 5,500

     TFE-III Top Flight Executive Three 7,000

      TFP Top Flight Premier 9,500

     TFP-I Top Flight Premier One 12,000

     TFP-II Top Flight Premier Two 14,500

     TFP-II Top Flight Premier Three 17,000

     TF Expert Top Flight Expert 20,000

     TFFC Top Flight First Class 20,500

     TFFC-I Top Flight First Class One 24,000

     TFFC-II Top Flight First Class Two 27,500

     TFFC-III Top Flight First Class Three 31,000

     TF Ace Top Flight ACE 35,000

     TFWC Top Flight World Class 35,500

     TFWC-I Top Flight World Class One 40,000

     TFWC-II Top Flight World Class Two 44,500

     TFWC-III Top Flight World Class Three 49,000

     TF Champion Top Flight Champion 50,000

     TFX Top Flight Extreme 54,500

     TFX-I Top Flight Extreme One 60,000

     TFX-II Top Flight Extreme Two 65,500

     TFX-III Top Flight Extreme Three 71,000

     TF Specialist Top Flight Specialist 75,000

     TFU Top Flight Ultimate 77,500

     TFU-I Top Flight Ultimate One 84,000

     TFU-II Top Flight Ultimate Two 90,500

     TFU-III Top Flight Ultimate Three 97,000

     TF Elite Top Flight Elite 100,000

How can I get more info?

There have been a few books published on Flyball:

"Flyball Training...Start to Finish" by Jacqueline Parkin.

"Flying High" by Joan Payne.

"On Your Mark" by Mike Randall.

And they are available from: Direct Book Service, 1-800-776-2665.

You can also visit the websites for the governing bodies:

North American Flyball Association (NAFA)

United Flyball League International (U-FLI)