Trying Flyball

Casey and I will be trying out something new for fun. Since she loves running and playing with balls, flyball seemed like a likely option. We were against it for a long time due to the potential risk of injury to her legs from jumping hard on the flyball box, and the long term damage it could cause. I've changed my mind, however, after finding out more information about it.

If you haven't heard of flyball before it's a dog sport in which teams of dogs race against each other from a start/finish line, over a line of hurdles, to a box that releases a tennis ball to be caught when the dog presses the spring-loaded pad, then back to their handlers while carrying the ball. Flyball is run in teams of four dogs, as a relay. The course consists of four hurdles placed 10 feet apart from each other, with the starting line six feet from the first hurdle, and the flyball box 15 feet after the last one, making for a 51-foot length. The hurdle height is determined by the shoulder height of the smallest dog in the team. Each dog must return its ball all the way across the start line before the next dog crosses. Ideal running is nose-to-nose at the start line. The first team to have all four dogs cross the finish line error free wins the heat. Penalties are applied to teams if the ball is dropped or if the next relay dog is released early. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flyball) 

Check out this video to understand what all that looks like:

There are many basic things Casey needs to learn before she can just start running a race, but I'm patient and willing to work with her to try something I think she'll not only enjoy but be good at. We have a smart little cookie here, so why not keep on training her and immersing her in dog sports?