Flyball |
Click for ©
2004 Jabula Dog Academy |
Flyball
Flyball is
a sport all about speed. It is fun, exciting, noisy and fast.
There are four dogs that race in a team. The object of the
game is to have all four dogs (one at a time) jump over the 4 jumps,
hit the box, grab the tennis ball and return over the 4 jumps as
fast as possible. On the return, the next dog is released,
until all four dogs have run. Flyball is fast becoming an
international dog sport. In North America Flyball is governed
by the North American Flyball Association (NAFA). The rules
and guidelines are determined by NAFA. Any dog can compete, and register with NAFA. Your dog will receive a racing number and accumulate points, thereby working toward Flyball titles. Contests usually take place on a weekly basis throughout the USA and Canada. Flyball can also be played just for fun, and confidence building. Jabula holds regular contests, on a more informal level, and tracks your dogs progress in our personal Flyball records. Top Any dog can
play. It does help if your dog is a natural retriever; however
this is not a prerequisite. Jabula offers both workshops and
private lessons to teach your dog the art of retrieving. Once
your dog has worked through the retrieving program they will be
ready to play Flyball. Any size dog
can play, as the jumps are determined according to the shoulder
height of the smallest dog on the team. So a Jack Russell will never
compete at the same jump heights that a Rottweiler would.
Dogs are also raced according to the overall speed of there team,
and seeded accordingly in races. This ensures that it is not
just the fastest dogs that are always deemed the winners.
In fact in official races, if your team exceeds the reported times
by a large margin, they loose points, as this is unfair to the slower
dogs. A basic obedience
course is highly recommended, this will help ensure a better outcome
to Flyball training. Dog Aggression is a big NO, to compete;
your dog may not display any signs of dog aggression. Most training takes place in a fenced in area and off leash, therefore it is vital that your dog responds to coming when called (even if you use a long leash). Top We recommend although do not require a harness and a long line. The harness takes the pressure off of the dogs necks and thereby prevents any chance of tracheal damage that can be caused through pressure on the neck by the use of a flat collar. The object of Flyball is for both the dog and the handler to have fun. Top $150 for 8 week course |
