What is Flyball?
Flyball is a relay race between two teams of four dogs. Racing side by side, one dog from each team must go over four hurdles, trigger a flyball box pedal, catch (retrieve) a ball and then return over all four hurdles to the start/finish gate where the next dog eagerly awaits.

Flyball is a team sport.  Each team consists of four dogs racing in each heat, plus up to two reserves.  Reserves can be interchanged after each heat.  There are between three and five heats to a race, and a team has to win a majority to win the race.

Flyball encompasses all things that dogs love to do - jumping, catching, retrieving, competing and striving to please their owners. Flyball is a sport in which any dog can participate, regardless of breed, shape or size.  Flyball does not interfere with obedience training.  In fact, the sport reinforces the disciplines taught in obedience class.

Besides being great for dogs, flyball is a lot of fun for people too!  It is a great way to meet people locally and all around Australia.  The team-work aspects bring people together as they strive to improve their team's performance.  Flyball can be as competitive as you want to make it.  The best part of all is just having fun with your dog, and seeing the look of excitement on your dog's face at the start of a day of racing, and the look of content at the end of the day.


More specifically.....

A flyball course consists of two racing lanes, side by side down a 51-foot (15.54m) course.  There are two sets of hurdles and flyball boxes.  Each team's racing lane consists of 4 hurdles spaced at 10 feet (3.05m) intervals.  The first hurdle being 6 feet (1.84m) from the start/finish line and a flyball box is placed 15 feet (4.57m) after the fourth hurdle.  The flyball box ejects a ball after the dog triggers the pedal on the front of the box.
Each dog must run in relay fashion down over the hurdles, trigger the box, retrieve the ball and return over the hurdles and across the finish line so that the next dog can be released.  The first team to have all four dogs complete the course, without error, wins the heat.  Missed hurdles and dropped balls require the dog to rerun the course after the rest of the team has finished.

Jump heights for each team are set at 5 inches (12.7cm) lower than the shoulder height of the smallest dog in the team.  The minimum height is 7 inches (17.8cm) and the maximum 14 inches (35.6cm).


Competitions are run in divisions, based on where the teams are seeded. The fastest teams are put in Division 1 and the slower teams in Division 2 etc.  This enables every team to have a fair go and be competitive in their division.