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Flyball bounces back!

13th March 2025

This year, we're delighted to welcome once again, the Goodwoof Flyball Championship. Set to attract top teams from around the UK, this high-octane and impressive show combines incredible skills and bond between human and hound.

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Goodwoof visitors were delighted to see Flyball competitors demonstrating their incredible skills and bond between human and hound at the event a few years ago. This year, we’re delighted to announce that Goodwoof Flyball expert, Juddy, will re-establish the Goodwoof Flyball Championship, set to attract top teams from throughout the UK.

Flyball is an inclusive sport aimed at dogs, and owners, of all shapes, sizes, and, in the case of the canines, breeds. As long as a dog is aged over 18 months and fit and healthy, they are eligible to take part. Two teams of four dogs race side by side over a 51-foot-long course. All dogs follow the same course with obstacles lowered for smaller breeds.

In the team, each dog must run over the jumps, trigger a Flyball box, retrieve the ball and return over the jumps. It is excellent exercise for the dogs, not only for their bodies, but also their brains as they have a lot to think about. It also establishes an amazingly strong working bond between the human and their dog and, above all, it’s great fun and keeps dogs active well into their teens.

Juddy Shearing
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Juddy, an officer in the RAF, has been involved with the British Flyball Association, which celebrates 30 years in April, for a while. He tells us, “I’ve been competing at Flyball with my family and the dogs for just over 15 years, mostly in the UK, but for the past three years I’ve been racing in Belgium. I’ve also been a Flyball Head Judge for the past decade. Before we moved to Belgium, I spent five years running the British Flyball Association which is an entirely volunteer-led, unincorporated association providing the governing framework for Flyball in the UK.

“We got involved with the sport because we saw that it’s a great activity to do with your dog and involves the whole family. I’ve actually won national championships competing in the same team as my wife and my son, which is unusual in other competitive sports.”

Before moving to Belgium, Juddy and his team won three UK national championships, and have subsequently won the Belgian league three years in a row. Juddy is the current Belgian, European and World Flyball champion and broke the world Flyball record with his Belgian team, Roadrunners Beep Beep in 2024. He has competed all over Europe racing competitively in the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Hungary. Juddy has been a regular league judge in both the UK and Belgium and was the Head Judge for the European Flyball Championships.

He says, “Over the years, we’ve raced many breeds, mostly border collies, but also a miniature poodle and a number of whippet crosses. My current racing dog is Kookachoo who is a mixed breed of whippet, greyhound, border collie and pit bull. She’s only four years old but has already won national titles both in the UK and in Belgium. She has won the European Championship twice, is the current world champion, and broke the world championship record last year – she’s pretty amazing!”

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Juddy will be spearheading the return of Goodwoof’s own Flyball Championship. He explains why, “I love the unique charm of Goodwoof and that it’s just so completely different to any other dog show in the world, not least because the dogs always come first throughout the event. The love of dogs is noticeably clear at Goodwoof. From the Duke of Richmond, his team and everyone who spends time at Goodwoof, that love and affection for dogs just oozes through everything about the event.

Flyball sits very nicely within this ethos of the celebration of the bond between human and hound. To be successful at Flyball, an owner needs to have a really deep bond with their dog. Success only comes through years of training together and making sure that the dog maintains its skills and fitness levels in order to compete safely and continue enjoying the sport. The Flyball competition at Goodwoof is already attracting some of the absolute best Flyball teams from the UK, keen to, once again, immerse themselves in the event’s special atmosphere. Last year’s event produced great quality and faster Flyball than that seen in the top division in the UK’s national Flyball championships so, the time is right this year to recognise the quality of Flyball on display at Goodwoof and re-introduce its own championship competition.”

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Seven top quality teams have been invited to compete across the weekend of May 17 and 18.  Each team races regularly in the top division in UK Flyball tournaments, and the list of competitors includes three teams who have recently won national titles in the UK  as well as several dogs that have competed in the finals of recent European and World Championship events. Juddy says, “All of these teams were in the hunt for last year’s national title.”

Teams set to compete in May include:

Odyssey – Juddy’s UK team who will be the organising crew. They have several recent national champions in the team and represented the UK at the 2024 European Flyball Championships.

Lightning Strikes – last year’s winners. This team are triple UK championship winners, finished sixth in the Flyball World Cup in 2022 and twice qualified for Flyball at Crufts.

Commandos – recent UK champions, this team are regular qualifiers for Flyball at Crufts and set the fastest time at last year’s national Flyball championship.

Molten Magnets – this team will be helping Goodwoof visitors to try Flyball themselves in the Have-a-Go arena as well as competing. They are regular qualifiers in the Crufts’ championship.

Bristol Ballistics – a Division 1 Flyball team

Wild West – this team competes in Division 1 of national Flyball competitions

Test Valley Raiders – this team also competes in Division 1 or 2 national Flyball competitions

See all the action at Goodwoof on 16 and 17 May 2026. Early bird tickets are now on sale.

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