Flyball, or to give its proper name – International Flyball Racing, is a team knockout relay race with 4 dogs and their owners in a team.

The object of the race is for each dog to jump 4 hurdles, height dependant on size of dogs, the smallest dog being the deciding factor. The dog has to trigger a flyball box, catch the ball, and return to the start/finish line with ball in mouth. When the first dog returns the next dog is released and so on. The race is won by the first team to get 4 dogs and 4 balls back without fault.

Flyball is played in two lanes side by side with two teams of dogs and there are two types of official competitions.

Open – This class is open to teams with any breed of dog, as long as the competing dogs are over 18 months of age.

Multibreed – This class is for teams made up of at least 4 different breeds, one of which may be a crossbred, again all must be over 18 months old.

There are also Starters and Fun classes run throughout the year to encourage new dogs and teams to take part in the fun sport of Flyball.

British Flyball Association (BFA) registered dogs receive Flyball points when competing in Open or Multibreed classes which go towards Flyball titles, together with a special trophy for a dog reaching 20,000 points.

It’s the most exciting and unique dog sport ever invented. In the early 1990s Flyball came to Britain where a group of enthusiasts formed the British Flyball Association.  www.flyball.org.uk