Flyball
If your shepherd is crazy about balls, this could be a great team sport in which to get involved. Flyball teams are comprised of four dogs and their handlers. One at a time, each dog on the team races down the fifty-one-foot course, jumping over four hurdles along the way. At the end of the course is a box. The dog must stomp on a lever, which causes a tennis ball to be ejected up into the air. The dog must catch the ball and then race back over the hurdles to the starting line. As soon as he crosses the line, the next dog runs the course.
Speed is everything. The team with the fastest overall time wins, after all time penalties have been factored in for dropped balls or missed hurdles. Flyball has roughly 7,000 dogs registered in the United States, and the numbers are rapidly increasing. If there isn't a flyball club in your area, you can call the North American Flyball Association for information on how to start your own team.
Flyball teams often include at least one small dog, such as a Jack Russell terrier. The reason for this is that the heights of the hurdles are set four inches shorter than the shoulder height of the shortest dog on the team — with a minimum height of eight inches. The lower the hurdles, the faster the larger dogs can leap over them.
