FLYBALL
What is Flyball?
Flyball is essentially a relay race.
A team of 4 dogs
independently race down 4 hurdles, collect a tennis ball from a box
and race back to the handler, negotiating the 4 hurdles on return.
Once the dog has crossed the start/finish line, the next dog then
takes its turn. If a dog drops the ball on the way back or does not
come back over the jumps, the dog is required to run again.
The
winning team in the first team back with 4 clear runs.
A team can
consist of up to six dogs and handlers but only four compete in
each round. The ball loader has to ensure a new tennis ball is
loaded on each occasion and shouts instructions to the dogs.
The sport is fast and frantic, and of course noisy! All
breeds of dogs can take part as the hurdles reflect the height of
the smallest dog in the team.
However, it used to be Border Collies that
dominate the sport due to their speed, agility and desire to work
but to compete for Crufts, there must be at least one "non collie".
Scunthorpe do however run some very quick Labradors and Crossbreeds
in their teams.
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