Flyball Titles
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 box. The first hurdle is 6 feet from the start line and the box is 15 feet from the last hurdle for a 51 foot overall length. The dogs jump the hurdles and steps on a spring loaded box that shoots out a tennis ball. The dog catches the tennis ball and then runs back over the 4 hurdles. When the dog crosses the starting line the next dog goes. The first team to have all 4 dogs run without errors wins the heat. Tournaments are usually organized in either a double elimination or round robin format. Double elimination is usually best of 3 or best of 5. 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. A wild relay race between two teams of four dogs, flyball is really an organized excuse for dogs to run, jump, retrieve, and bark. Each team has six dogs: four running and two backups. The course consists of four jumps set in a line ten feet apart and a flyball box placed fifteen feet beyond the last jump. The Flyball box holds a tennis ball which ejects when the dog hits the pedal on the front of the box. The object of the game is for each dog to go over the four hurdles, hit the box, catch the ball, and return back over the jumps as fast as possible. Each of the four dogs takes a turn running the course and when all of the dogs have passed the finished line with no errors the team is finished.
The hurdles' height are dependent on the height of the dogs in the team -- 4" below the shoulder height of the shortest dog. 8" is the minimum height and 16" is the maximum height.
The fastest time is 15.43 seconds by SpringLoaded from Michigan, USA..
North American Flyball Association
The dogs earn points towards flyball titles based on the teams time:
- less than 32 secs: Each dog receives 1 point
- less than 28 secs: Each dog receives 5 points
- less than 24 secs: Each dog receives 25 points
The titles the dogs can earn are:
| Abbreviation |
Title |
Points |
Award Type |
| FD |
Flyball Dog |
20 |
Certificate |
| FDX |
Flyball Dog Excellent |
100 |
Certificate |
| FDCh |
Flyball Dog Champion |
500 |
Certificate |
| FDCh Silver |
Flyball Dog Champion |
1000 |
Certificate |
| FDCh Gold |
Flyball Dog Champion |
2500 |
Certificate |
| FM |
Flyball Master |
5000 |
Pin |
| FMX |
Flyball Master Excellent |
10000 |
Pin |
| FMCh |
Flyball Master Champion |
15000 |
Pin |
| ONYX |
ONYX Award |
20000 |
Plaque |
| FGDCh |
Flyball Grand Champion |
30000 |
Plaque |
| FGDCh 40k,50k.. |
Flyball Grand Champ 40k 50k.. |
40000, 50000... |
Plaque |
| Hobbes |
Hobbes Award |
100,000 |
Plaque
Addendum |