How do I get my dog trained?

As with most activities that you can do with your dog there are numerous books written on training for Flyball that you can read and they will give you some good beginning points.  But most people find a local club and start attending their training classes.  Flyball is a team sport for not just you and your dog, but for a group of people and their dogs.  While there are Singles racing events, the majority of Flyball events involves a group. 

Besides having a new group of friends who share a similar enthusiasm for their pets, Flyball clubs will have all of the necessary equipment for training and competing in the sport.  While any individual could certainly obtain all of the equipment, it would be costly and take up a lot of space.  There isn't a lot of equipment involved but normally you will be using a Flyball box, several Flyball jumps, and a stopwatch.  Depending on methods used for training you might be using a clicker, treats, collars, leashes, etc. 

You will also find an extensive amount of knowledge in a Flyball club; how to train your dog, information about Flyball, information about Flyball in your geographical area, experience to train you as a Flyball handler.  That last is more important than you may think.  Training a Flyball handler can be as difficult as training the dog for Flyball.  But, don't be scared.  It isn't that physically demanding, and just requires some basic knowledge and experience that you won't really get until you start competing. 

What do I get for playing Flyball?

Probably the biggest payback for playing Flyball is the comaraderie of your family, friends, and pets.  Training normally involves getting together with the other club members and training and enjoying each others companionship.  Flyball events usually involve traveling as a group to another city/area to get together with a dozen or more other clubs to compete in a U-FLI sanctioned event.  Here you get to see all kinds of different dogs, you may get to see breeds that you have never seen before, and possibly dogs with handicaps showing that they are still able to have fun and live their lives to the fullest.  As your dog learns to play Flyball it will be able to compete in the events and earn points towards numerous Flyball titles.  Each title has some form of reward attached to it such as pins, bars, and even plaques.  Dogs are even recognized on the U-FLI website based on breed, points, speed, etc.