Fly like a (b)eagle

Jackson the rat terrier always has energy to burn. 

But his owners, Vestavia Hills residents Abby McConahay and Josh Huffines, know one thing that can always tire him out: Friday night flyball practice. 

“He does sleep well the next day,” Huffines said.

McConahay, Huffines and Jackson are members of the Birmingham Bandits flyball club. 

Twenty-year member Lisa Han described the sport as a “four-dog relay race.” Each dog must jump a series of four hurdles and hit a spring-loaded box, which pops a tennis ball into the air. The dog must catch the ball and return back across the hurdles to its owner, crossing the finish line before the next dog in the relay is released.

Han said flyball is ideal for dogs like Jackson, with plenty of energy and the desire to do a “job.” While breeds like border collies and Labrador retrievers are a frequent sight at flyball competitions, Han said she has seen dogs of almost any size and breed competing, including dogs adopted from shelters. Han herself has done flyball with small dogs such as Yorkshire terriers and Maltese dogs.

 “Almost every single breed has probably played flyball at one time or another,” Han said. “A lot of the dogs are rescues that are too hyper for the regular family home, that need a job.”

Huffines said the combination of the physical exertion and mental challenge of learning flyball has kept Jackson engaged in the sport.

“You have to go really quickly, you have to focus on the ball, you have to grab the ball, you have to go all the way back. So for our borderline-neurotic, weirdo dog to do all of that, it’s really impressive to see. It’s amazing,” Huffines said.

There are roughly a dozen active members of the Birmingham Bandits, Han said, and most of them leave the Friday night practices at GeauxPlay in Pelham with similarly-tired, “happy dogs.”

Han said members of the Bandits regularly participate in local and regional flyball competitions and occasionally take teams to national shows, including a second place finish in their division at the 2016 North American Flyball Association CanAm Classic. 

Han said even at the national level there are smaller dogs that can compete, as the divisions are broken down by average team speed.

“So a 16-second team is not running against a 22-second team, otherwise it wouldn’t be fun,” Han said.

Huffines and McConahay only joined the Bandits in January, so their aspirations right now aren’t on competition, but rather on teaching Jackson the sport. Learning flyball takes a variety of skills, the most difficult of which is understanding the springboard box. 

“He actually picked it up really fast,” McConahay said.

But when you add in other dogs, people, toys and sounds, getting distracted in the middle of a flyball run is fairly common for Jackson. McConahay said he doesn’t have the “laser focus” she sees in dogs like border collies and some of the more experienced canines in the club.

“When he’s not very focused, it’s kind of a challenge. It’s a little bit of a puzzle to try to get your dog to understand what he’s supposed to do and get him to do it,” Huffines said.

McConahay said that one of her favorite parts of joining the Bandits is that the group is casual and accepts dogs regardless of their skill level. When Jackson doesn’t catch the ball or gets distracted by another dog, she said the other human members are understanding and have been in the same situation themselves.

“Flyball is very quirky. I’m not sure I’d be interested in it on paper, but coming and doing it with your own pet is surprisingly rewarding,” Huffines said.

For more information about the flyball club, visit birminghambandits.com.