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 SLODOG contact:  Beverly Brown, flyball@slodog.org
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Apr 5 |
Saturday Run-Throughs |
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Apr 12 |
Therapy Dog visit |
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Four dogs make up each relay team. They line up in lanes that are approximately 45 feet long and set 10 to 20 feet apart. Each racing lane has four jumps set 10 feet apart and, at the far end, a Flyball box. As the teams line up, the suspense builds. Sometimes it's all a handler can do to hold the dogs. A whistle signals the start of the race. The first dog from each team is released. The dogs leap over the jumps enroute to their respective Flyball boxes, step on the pedal that sends a tennis ball flying from the machine, catch or retrieve the ball, then race back with it over the jumps to the starting line, at which point a teammate is released for her run. Leads change again and again with each canine and handler mistake and as the quicker dogs make up for lost time. The team with the fastest time wins the race. Flyball is open to all types, breeds, sizes and ages of dogs. Titles are awarded by the North American Flyball Association. Competitions are held all over the world. Flyball involves human strategizing in addition to canine athleticism and obedience. On the simplest level, for instance, most handlers make sure their team contains at least one small dog because the height of each team's jumps are dictated by the height of the smallest dog on the team. The trick is to find the balance of size, speed, and focus in both the individual dogs and the team as a whole. SLODOG holds Flyball practices at our Saturday run-throughs (see Calendar at right). These are NOT formal teacher-student seminars. Rather, they're a gathering of club members and their dogs. The agenda is pretty much a function of who shows up. Some time is generally devoted to schooling the dogs (and their handlers) on fundamental as well as more specialized aspects of the sport. You can also pretty much count on at least one race or two (or three, or four). See our Events page for more about SLODOG Saturday Run-Throughs. If you are interested in teaching your dog Flyball, feel free to join us at one of our practices (see Calendar at right), or contact our Flyball Chairman, Cindy Decker, at flyball@slodog.org. (If you haven't already been to the North American Flyball Association website, you might also look at what they have to say.) |
Apr 14 |
General Meeting |
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Apr 20 |
EVENT: DOG DAYS 2008 |
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May 3 |
Saturday Run-Throughs |
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May 10 |
Therapy Dog visit |
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May 17 |
Saturday Run-Throughs |
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May 24-26 |
C.O.A.S.T. Agility + Stockdog Trials | |
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note... |
No May Member Meeting |
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