Flyball
According to the North American Flyball Association (NAFA), flyball races match two teams of four dogs each, racing side-by-side over a 51 foot long course. Each dog must run in relay fashion down the jumps, trigger a flyball box, releasing the ball, retrieve the ball, and return over the jumps. The next dog is released to run the course but can't cross the start/finish line until the previous dog has returned over all 4 jumps and reached the start/finish line. The first team to have all 4 dogs finish the course without error wins the heat.
In NAFA events, jump height is determined by the smallest dog on the team – this dog, called the "height dog", is measured at the withers, then that number is rounded down to the nearest inch and another 5" is subtracted to get the jump height (with the minimum jump height being 7"). So a 13 1/4" dog would round down to 13", minus 5", would jump 8". Maximum jump height is 14".
In May of 2012 the AKC Board unanimously approved the recommendation that AKC recognize the NAFA titles of Flyball Champion (FDCh), Flyball Master (FM) and ONYX. NAFA flyball dogs can now have their accomplishments recorded on their AKC pedigree.
For more information about Flyball:
North American Flyball Association
AKC Recognition of Flyball Titles
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