What in the world is flyball

That is usually the response I get when I tell people that Sophie competes in flyball.

So here is the short to the point version I tell people when they ask:

Flyball is a dog relay race. The racing lane has a start line, four hurdles spread out over 51 feet and a flyball box. A flyball ring has two of these lanes side by side with racing lights in between. 2 teams compete in head to head racing. There are 4 dogs on each team. The dogs must jump the hurdles, trigger the box, catch a tennis ball and come back over the hurdles so the next dog may go. The incoming dog cannot pass the start line before the returning dog. The first team to send all four dogs with no errors wins that heat.  (whee that is a long spiel)

I will have to locate a video later today to add.