| Flyball is one of the newer dog sports. Although it was created in the late 70's, it became popular in the 80's and the North American Flyball Association (NAFA) was created. Flyball requires the dog to race a distance of 51 feet over 4 hurdlers which are set 10 feet apart. The launch box at the end is set 15 feet from the last hurdle. The dog jumps on the front of the box and catches the ball that is launched out. The dog then runs back over the course to the handler. There are four dogs on a team. They run one after another. The team with the fastest time wins. Each dog on both teams can recieve points by having a fast total team time. Dogs can earn titles after acquiring specific amounts of points, such as Flyball Dog (FD) and Flyball Grand Champion (FDGCh). | How to Start Training Flyball is one of the easier dog sports to train, although you do need some equipment to train with. Hurdles can easily be created by stacking pillows on placing a yardstick across two chairs or for smaller dogs, across two stacks of books. 1. The most important skill your dog can have is retrieving. If you cannot rely on your dog to retrieve a toy or ball with distractions, such as other dogs, this will be your first goal. 2. Your dog will need to be able to catch the ball when it is launched from the box. If it can't catch the ball, the dog will lose valuable time picking the ball up off the ground. 3. The last two things to teach are jump/over and touching the box. Some dogs are scared of the box or the carpet/rubber on the front. Other dogs will take right to it, but you might have to launch the ball. This will show the dog that when it steps on the box, it gets the ball. |