Flyball

Flyball originated in the late 60s of the XX century . It is believed that the first installation for flyball was invented by a resident of California Herbert O. Wegner (Herbert O. Wegner). He was tired of throwing balls to his dog and turned the ball- throwing machine into a flyball rig. The idea was that the dog received the ball without human intervention. In order for the ball to fly out of the device, the dog had to press a special lever with its paw. Once the device, invented by O. Wegner, was seen by Barbara Weteruox - the daughter of the famous trainer Rud Witeruoks, who trained the Collie Pal for the very first film “Lassie”. ^[one]

So the idea of ​​a new sports game for dogs came up. To the “flybox” or “flyball installation” (the launch box with the lever received this name), several barriers that the dog had to overcome before starting and catching the ball were added. Soon, the first flyball competitions began. This new sport began to develop successfully in Toronto . After several demonstrations during the exhibitions, the first official flyball competitions were held in the USA in 1983. ^[2]

Flyball is a competition between teams of four dogs. The task of the dogs is to overcome the four barriers on the way to installation as quickly as possible, press the lever or platform, grab the ball and bring it, breaking the same four barriers in the opposite direction as quickly as possible. The next dog starts when the previous one crosses the start - finish line. The team that showed the best time without making mistakes is considered the winner of the race. If the dog makes a mistake (misses the barrier, drops the ball, makes a false start, goes to another track), she runs after all the participants in her team. ^[3]

Runs are held simultaneously for two teams on parallel tracks. Two or more teams take part in the competition. Teams consist of four, five or six dogs, but only four run. The captain of the team can replace dogs for each race at their discretion out of six declared. As part of the competition, individual races are sometimes held, they are not official, they are held at the discretion of the organizers, in particular to determine the best personal speed of the dog. ^[four]

At the moment, the most prestigious competitions in the world are considered to be the competitions within the framework of the international dog show " Crufts ", the European Championship of Flyball, the World Championship, as well as the US Championship . The winners of such competitions not only compete among themselves, but also strive to set a record in the speed of overcoming the track with one and all four dogs in the team. At the moment, the holder of the team standings record is the UK team “Aces High Flyball team”, which showed a time of 14.77 seconds. ^[five]

Flyball appeared in Russia in 2009. The first demonstrations were held as part of the Eurasia dog show at the Crocus Expo exhibition center. They did not have a high level of entertainment, since the dogs were not sufficiently trained. However, it was after this performance that the distribution of flyball in Russia began. This sport reached its peak of popularity in 2014–2015; during this period, up to twelve teams took part in the competition, more than fifty participating dogs. Unfortunately, due to the low level of organization of competitions and refereeing, many athletes decided to stop training.

In 2019, the "Association of Flyball Fans in the Russian Federation in the RKF system" was created. This is a group of enthusiastic athletes that develops and popularizes sports in Russia, approves changes to the rules, holds competitions and is engaged in the formation of the Russian national team to participate in the World Championship in flyball.

• Portal about flyball in Russia Kinodog.ru
• UK Flyball Association
• North American Flyball Association