101 Getting started with Flyball

Looking for a great sport for a ball crazy dog? Then you surely will come across flyball! It’s fun, it’s fast and as competitive as you want it to be. Flyball is a fun, active and entertaining sport to interact with your own dog, other dog enthusiasts and their dog in a competitive environment. The dogs get plenty of exercise and are challenged physically and mentally. Flyball is especially effective for high energy dogs to lose some of their excess energy. If this sport is not the best match for your dog, don’t forget to check out all other sport possibilities here!

Flyball started as a sport for dogs in the south of California in about 1960. For the first time dog trainers did hurdle racing with dogs with the intention of bringing back a tennis ball to the finish line as fast as possible. The first flyball tournament was held in the US in 1983. Nowadays the sport has spread across most parts of the world and there are large championships held every year.

What is flyball exactly?

Flyball is a race, in which dog teams each with 4 dogs take turns jumping the hurdles and retrieving the tennis ball back to the finish line. To get the tennis ball, the dog must jump on a box. This box is spring-loaded and when jumped upon it releases a ball. Once the dog gets a hold of this ball, he has to return to the finish line with it…