Flyball

The Team Sport
for Dogs!

Flyball is a relay race with 4 dogs on a team. The course consists of a starting line, 4 hurdles spaced 10 feet apart and a flyball box. The first hurdle is set at 6 feet from the start line and the box is set at 15 feet from the last hurdle for an overall course length of 51 feet.

The dogs race over the hurdles to a spring loaded flyball box which ejects a tennis ball when stepped on. The dog must catch the tennis ball and return it back over the 4 hurdles to the handler. 

When the returning dog crosses the starting line the next dog is released. The first team to have all 4 dogs run without errors wins the heat. 

Tournaments are held throughout the year, and organized in either a double elimination or round robin format. Double elimination is usually best of 3 or best of 5 heats. Round robin is usually best 3 out of 5 and the first team to win 3 heats receives 1 point towards their standing in the tournament.

The height of the hurdles is dependent on the height of the dogs in the team, and is set at 4" below the shoulder height of the shortest dog. The minimum height of hurdle is 8" and the maximum height is 16".

Titles

North American 
Flyball Association

Flyball Home Page