Flyball races match two teams of 4 dogs each racing in side-by-side lanes over a 51-foot-long course. Each dog must run down the course over 4 jumps, trigger a flyball box releasing the ball, retrieve the ball and return over the jumps. The next dog is released to run the course but can't cross the start/finish line until the previous dog has returned over all 4 jumps and reached the start/finish line. The first team to have all 4 dogs finish the course without error wins the heat.

Jump height is determined by the smallest dog on the team – this dog, called the "height dog", is measured at the withers. The measurement is rounded down to the nearest inch and another 5" is subtracted to get the jump height (with the minimum jump height at 7"). So a 13 1/4" measurement would round down to 13", minus 5", and the team would jump 8". Maximum jump height is 14".