It just seems natural.
You take dogs and have them run, jump, fetch and return to their owners. It would appear a simple thing.
It’s putting all these together in the canine relay race known as flyball that’s more complicated. It takes a great deal of patience and work by both pet and owner to develop a good flyball dog.
What is flyball? It’s a fast-paced sport, invented in California in the late 1970s. Each dog sprints over a 51-foot course, which includes four jumps, to catch a tennis ball released from a spring-loaded “flyball box” and then races back over those hurdles so the next dog can go.
Any kind of dog, regardless of its strengths, weaknesses or age, can take part in flyball.
This was obvious at a recent practice by the MAINEiacs flyball team held at Pet Quarters on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor.
The flyball course was set up on one side of the store. A mishmash of fencing and chairs lined one side of a runway of carpeting (to keep the dogs from exploring the exotic scents present), with the owners on one end and the flyball box at the other. The four jumps are set at a height 4 inches below the shoulder of the shortest dog, with the range 8 to 16 inches high.
One foursome that day featured a compact beagle-spaniel mix, a rangy Weimaraner, a tiny papillon and a lithe border collie. Watching them run reveals that flyball offers a measure of equality among dogs.
The MAINEiacs, which have 16 dogs either competing or in training, are busy preparing to host Maine’s first-ever flyball tournament, to be held Nov. 5-6 at Bangor Tennis Club, Mecaw Road, Hampden. Teams from five states and three Canadian provinces are expected to participate in the event.
In flyball, points are awarded, per dog, based on the team’s time. Very fast teams run the course in 15 to 16 seconds, while an average would be 20 to 21 seconds. If there is an error, such as an early pass, a dropped ball or a missed jump, that dog has to run the course again, adding to the team’s time. Points are accumulated over time, and the dogs can earn various titles.
One other thing that becomes readily apparent at this practice-demonstration: Flyball is raucous. The owners cheer on their pets, and the dogs run faster as a result. MAINEiacs founder Monica Roberts of Bar Harbor explained that if sedate obedience training is the wine-and-cheese party of the dog world, then flyball is the kegger. And both humans and canines seemed ready to party on.
Roberts formed the MAINEiacs after moving here in May 2004 from Minnesota, where her border collie, Sally, competed on a flyball team. As a trainer, she’s now working to spread the gospel of flyball in Maine.
After returning to its owner, each dog gets rewarded, either with treats or some play. At the end of a leash, Roberts keeps
Sally’s favorite toy, a car, and Sally playfully tugs on it after each run.
“We want them to be happy and come back to us,” Roberts explained.
Roberts also has two other border collies in training, Susie and Shiloh, the latter of whom she got a month ago from the Bangor Humane Society.
“Rescue dogs are some of the best flyball dogs,” she said.
Lori Pilvines of Otis has two dogs playing flyball. Beatrice, a beagle-terrier mix adopted from the humane society, is just starting out, but her housemate, Baxter, a beagle-spaniel mix, finally competed recently after a year of training.
“Baxter took a little longer,” Pilvines said. “He had no interest in tennis balls, no fetch, but had a good recall. We had to do a lot of work at home to get him used to tennis balls.”
Some members of the team travel a good distance. For the past six months, Rebecca Aube has been driving three hours one way from New Hampshire so that her 9-year-old West Highland white terrier, Alex, can practice and compete with the MAINEiacs.
Why? Aube credits the Maine team with helping Alex gain the ranking of No. 1 Westie in the North American Flyball Association.
“It’s just addicting,” Aube said. “This team is a lot of fun to be with. Also this team has been more able to help me reach my goals for Alex, which is Flyball Master. No Westie has earned that title yet.”
On this day, with a monsoon raging, Lisa Lane has driven from Augusta, following a semi, so that her two petite papillons could practice. (The dogs are so tiny that they fetch ping-pong-ball-size “itty bitty” tennis balls.)
Lane jokingly compared herself to a soccer mom.
“People can’t believe that I drive this far so my 5-pound dogs can be satiated for a weekend,” she said.
Haiku, 4, started flyball first in January 2004, and Karmela, also 4, “picked it up accidentally,” Lane said. “Haiku is ball-driven, while Karmela is praise- and treat-driven, and her drive back is faster. Monica has said that if you put them together, you’d have the perfect flyball dog.”
Since the passes are made in close quarters, it’s essential that the dogs are familiar with one another. That’s what these practices are for.
“In order to get a really nice pass, they have to like each other,” Roberts said. “So they go to practice, hang out and socialize with each other.”
For more information about flyball, contact Monica Roberts at 460-2916 or Lori Pilvines at 537-3667, or visit www.flyballdogs.com/flyballmaineiacs. Dale McGarrigle can be reached at 990-8028 and dmcgarrigle@bangordailynews.net.
Four-year-old Julia Hammond (top photo) watches as black Labrador Molly May awaits a treat after completing a lap. Icelandic sheepdog Surtsey (above) clears the first hurdle on the flyball course.
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