Flyball Fever, Everydog's Sport

Boxloader

- This person positions the box in the lane, stands in it to brace the box against the impact of the dogs triggering it, and loads balls into the box for each dog.

-- The boxloader should have a carrying voice, be sturdy enough to move the box and hold it in position, know each dog by name and the direction the dog turns in. It's a bonus if they have a powerful, carrying voice and the dexterity to handle handfuls of tennis balls without dropping them.

Start Dog Handler

- This person releases the start dog. The start dog is the first dog of the team to race. They will have to learn their dog's start speed and know how far back from the start line and at what point in the start light sequence to release it. Good starts are judged by the hundreths of a second, so timeing is very critical.

--The start dog handler should be able to charge his/her dog up enough to sprint from a standstill over and over again. Also, a high level of consistency in the way the dog starts is important.

Height Dog Handler

- This person is running the smallest dog on the team, the dog from whom the jump heights are set. Therefore, this dog is the one most challenged by the jump heights. The handler has to be aware of the dog's condition and fitness level and protect the dog from overuse injuries.

-- Height dogs are often terriers, usually Jack Russel Terriers. You have to be the right kind of person to handle these little monsters and get the cooperation and enthusiasm out of them. Even people who like terriers often refer to them as "terrors".

Dog Handler (2)

- These are the people who release the other two dogs on the team. They each need to learn how their dog runs and encourage consistency so that they can judge when to release their dogs so that they pass the previous dog nose to nose at the start line.

-- The handlers of the dogs racing 2nd or 3rd in order will also need to be able to adjust for variations in the speeed of the dog running just previous to their dog, because they will be releasing their dog to pass the previous dog. If the previous dog speeds up or slows down, it will affect the release of their dogs.

--- The second and third dogs will be passing another dog going to the box and returning. These are two distinct skills that have to be taught and practiced to gain any consistency.

Team Captain

- The team captain helps the team function as a whole. They make the split-section decisions of whether to re-run a dog that has a fault, whether to switch out a dog who is having troubles with a dog that was being held in reserve, which dogs run and in which order. The team captain also communicates the racing order to the line judge and the boxloader.

-- Ideally, the team captain shouldn't be handling a dog.

Ball Shagger

- All the dogs are racing down, getting tennis balls, then racing back and spitting them out. The ball shagger collects all the loose balls so that no one trips over them and breaks their neck and also so that the team keeps track of their tennis balls.

-- This is a good role for the kids, the dogless, the dog-is-still-in-training types.

Optional:

Pass caller

This person stands at the start line and calls out to the handlers information on early or late passes. It takes a quick eye, and even then you are usually off. A camera can be used to achieve more accuracy, especially in practice, but you need a camera operator.

Line Judge

- This is a person who volunteers to line judge for races that your team is not directly involved in. The line judge watches for faults and calls them out to the head judge and records the times and dogs running on record sheets.

-- Since the line judge only judges on races that the team does not run in, any member of the team can volunteer, even if they have a different role during actual races.

Box Judge

- Positioned near the box at the end of the lane, this person watches to confirm that the dog triggers the box, takes the ball, and continues back over the jumps without dropping the ball or veering out of the lane.

-- Like the Line Judge, this person only judges races by other teams, and so can be a volunteer who also fullfills another role during team races.

Both organizations:

- Require teams, people and dogs are registered
- Have a rulebook
- Provide a structure to support tournaments,
- Recruit, train and certify judges,
- Provide start lights and other electronic support
- Have a website with information on teams, dogs, scores, tournament results, etc.
- Base the team jump height on the shortest dog.

With both organizations, to run a team you will need:
- at least four trained dogs
- at least four handlers
- a boxloader
- a flyball box
- an unholy amount of debounced tennis balls.

NAFA has been around longer and has a larger participation and coverage area in the United States.

U-FLI has the option of singles (one dog team) and pairs (two dog team.) It is a younger organization that seems more accomodating to those just starting out in the sport.

NAFA measures the dogs from the height of the shoulder to the ground. This is consistant with the way height is measured for agility.

U-FLI measures the long bone on the dog's front leg - "elbow" to "wrist." Measuring this way is more beneficial to deep chested, short legged dogs.

Usually, U-FLI's required jump heights are lower.

NAFA tounaments are more likely to be held outdoors, U-FLI indoors.

U-FLI's registration fees:

Handler - no fee
Dog - $10.00 per dog, one time fee
Club - $20.00 per club, one time fee
Tournament - usually $75 - 130 varies depending on the club hosting the tournament. It breaks out to $20 - $40 a dog, usually.

NAFA registration fees:

Handler - no fee
Dog - $20.00 per dog, one time fee
Club - $25.00 per club, one time fee
Tournament - usually $75 - 130 varies depending on the club hosting the tournament. It breaks out to $20 - $40 a dog, usually.

People find or acquire their flyball dogs in a variety of ways. They train a dog they currently own, they rescue a dog with the idea of traing it for flyball, or they buy a dog from a breeder specifically for racing it in flyball.

My preferred option, and certainly the most common, is that the person gets into flyball as a way of having fun with the dog they currently own. The person strengthens their bond with the dog, the dog has a blast, everybody wins. Go this route. Please.

Second favorite, with me, is the idea of rescuing a dog with the specific idea of racing it in flyball. While I am all for rescue, and both my dogs are Pound Puppy Specials, there is a pitfall in this. If the rescued dog doesn't take to flyball, and there are a number of reasons why it might not, that pet is stuck with you, and you with it.

"So what," you say, "The dog has a home." Well, yes, but it's a home where the dog is a burden. Flyball training takes a lot of time, effort and energy. If your rescued dog is a flyball dud, it still requires your time, love, effort and energy. If your interest is flyball, rather than the dog, you will probably come to resent that time, love, effort and energy.

Also, if your first rescued dog isn't the speed demon you were anticipating, you may be tempted to try again. And again. And again. Then you end up with five or a dozen dogs and the time, effort, love, money and energy of one solitary person spread too thin.

So, rescue a dog if you have a dog-shaped space in your home and heart, but only if your really want that dog, even if it sucks at flyball. Always remember, flyball is for dogs, not dogs for flyball.

The worst available option is to buy a puppy for flyball. Yes, puppies are cute. Yes, you will have a better chance at avoiding genetic-based problems and complications due to deprivations suffered as a puppy. (Provided you avoid the plethora of puppymillers and ignorant backyard breeders.) But there are a lot of well-bred, healthy dogs out there that just don't thrive at flyball.

So, then, you think, "Well, I'll just get a puppy from one of those breeders that specialize in flyball dogs." This is a really, really bad idea.

1.) They will charge you too much.

2.) How you train the dog will have a much bigger impact on the dog's perfomance than breeding.

3.) Flyball uses a very small skill set for a dog - run down there, get the ball, run back as fast as you can. Dogs bred for only this small skill set are often hyper, neurotic, obsessive, aggressive, and difficult to manage. They are usually a lesser version of dogs than those of the same breed that were bred for a broader range of skills, such as herding.

4.) Even if you hit the jackpot and happen to get the perfect puppy who grows up into the fastest flyballest dog ever, the dog is only at that peak for a short period of time. A year or two and the dog won't be at its peak anymore. One of my dogs is seven years old. He has a blast running in races. But he's not as fast as he would have been at a year, or a year and a half.

5.) There are so many dogs being euthanized at the shelters today, and tomorrow, and tomorrow's tomorrow, because they have precisely the qualities that make a stellar flyball dog - hyper and driven. We have a glut of dogs in this country that can't find homes and no need to be adding to the canine holocaust by breeding for something as trivial as flyball!

6.) The sport is constantly changing. In a few years ago, who heard of a borderstaffie? There simply haven't been enough generations of dogs bred for it and competing in a consistant way for it to prove out the reliablity of any lines.

However you acquire your flyball dog, remember, records shine for a brief moment of glory before being shattered by someone else. The races I've enjoyed the most are the ones where it was down to the split second, but those type of races happen at all division levels. The only reason to do this sport is to have fun with your dogs and friends.

I saw a post on the flyball list about a person starting a flyball team. They were going to be a Division Two team. She was looking for dogs and handlers, but the dogs had to be 3.9 seconds or faster. Handlers should already know the game. People should be willing to travel to out of state tournaments. Oh, and they needed a boxloader. Currently there were three members of her family and one other person, and three trained dogs and a puppy.

We've all seen them run, those teams like Touch N Go, Hyperflight, Rude Dogs and the others that wiggle around in the 15 second category. It's exciting and fun. But, there is a lot behind those teams. They don't spring fulling formed from a post on the flyball list.

When starting a team, don't expect fully trained wicked fast dogs and handlers to just appear. Flyball is mostly about people, people you will spend a lot of time with and go through a lot of ups and downs with. If some team has invested the time. love and money training someone and their dog to be so splendid, why are they wondering around unattached? Either the dog is unreliable or the person is, or they don't play well with others, or they move around and abandon their team.

You need to take into consideration the needs and wants of your team members. Yeah, racing is fun. But, for a team to stay together, there has to be something compelling in it for everyone. It's time-consuming and money-consuming. If a person has a wicked fast dog and a 5.0 second dog and a 6.5 second dog, they are going to want a team that will accept ALL their dogs. A person isn't going to travel to out of state tournaments and show up at every practice without ever getting a chance to run a dog unless they are a very attached spouse of one of your handlers. Those Division 1 teams? They find a place for the not-so-fast dogs. They invest time, resources and energy in training. They run multiple teams so that they can have the creme de la creme on the a team and the eleven year old lab that lopes over to the box, drops the ball and kisses the boxloader before meandering back down the lane has a place in the sun.

Another thing about those fast teams? It isn't just that they have fast dogs. Watch them in competition. They choreograph their warm-ups, they have established box work routines for each dog. They've worked with each other long enough and close enough to pass their dogs nose to nose at the startline, over and over. We've taken first place in Division 2 in competitions with a ten year old 5 seconds on a good day start dog. We've also lost with better dogs.

So, how do you start a team? Offer classes. Whoever shows up, work with them. Plan on having fast dogs and slow dogs, good dogs and bad dogs, and focus on the people. They are the most important part of flyball. People acquire new dogs. Maybe their next dog will be a ringer, or maybe they will be good boxloader for the A team, or perhaps their dog will make a good dog for training young dogs, or maybe they make really good chilli or tell wonderful stories or can pull everyone together when stuff starts to fall apart. Focus on acquiring people. Dogs follow.