Two flyball teams that train locally at BOC Water Hydraulics have carved their names, and paw prints, into the history of the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show by becoming the first champions of its inaugural flyball tournament in the multi-breed one division, and third place in the multi-breed two division on Feb. 8. The excitement to see these top dogs compete at the highest level was so strong that the tournament pre-sold over 7,000 tickets. (Photos by Morgan Ahart)
SALEM — A local flyball team has won the inaugural Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show flyball tournament, etching their names, and paw prints, in the history of the renowned competition.
The Manic Menagerie, a flyball team which trains at BOC Water Hydraulics made history by becoming the first champions of the Westminster Dog Show’s inaugural flyball tournament in the multi-breed one division on Feb. 8. They were joined by the Frenzied Flyers, another flyball team who trains at BOC, who took third place in the multi-breed two division.
Flyball is a type of four-dog relay race, which Kristin Detwiler, described as “drag racing for dogs.” Rachel Olson explained that each dog runs the length of the course, making four jumps and hitting a spring-loaded box at the far end of the lane which launches a ball that they must catch and return to their trainers with, and that when the dog’s nose crosses the line the next member of the team begins their run.
Olson said that the Frenzied Flyers team was first formed in 2006, and that she has been a member since 2007, and that the Manic Menagerie team was established in 2021. Olson said that while they initially practiced at several locations, when BOC built its current location on Salem-Warren Road, which is owned by Olson’s father Todd whom she previously ran flyball with, they began practicing there.
Olson said that while Westminster was initially concerned that it wouldn’t receive enough interest to run a full bracket for its initial tournament, it received 59 applicants fighting for only 15 spots on the roster and pre-sold 7,000 tickets with more still sold on the day of the tournament. When there are more teams than roster spots luck is the deciding factor for what teams get to run as a random draw is taken of qualifying applicants.
“You could say we were pretty lucky to have both the teams get in with the random draw,” said Detwiler.
They said that traveling for the show, which was held at the Javits Center in downtown Manhattan, was an incredible experience, and that the attendees were very excited and welcoming towards the flyball teams. While the tournament marked their first time traveling to Westminster, they ensured they came prepared with Olson joking that they “got all of their kinks out in training.”
“We took it pretty seriously; we rented a space and practiced on turf which we don’t normally do, and the dogs we picked we picked because we knew they’d be okay on turf and in the city, so each team had over twenty dogs they could pick from so we kind of played a game on what dogs we thought could handle it and what we thought could be competitive out of those and picked lineups that we thought could be successful,” said Olson.
They explained that the turf which the tournament was run on is different than what is used in their usual training and that many dogs have difficulty getting grip on turf and that it can be more abrasive on their paws. Kathy Topham said that turf is also a very different visual to what their dogs are used to which can affect their targeting and impact their performance.
“That’s probably the hardest part for some of our dogs. Our mats give them a kind of visual line of where they need to be and some of them really struggled without that,” said Olson.
The large crowd sizes also distracted some dogs, but they had chosen dogs they knew wouldn’t be affected, noting that some of their dogs had already experienced large crowds while performing in half-time shows for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“I honestly didn’t know how they were going to deal with the crowds because they didn’t give us a ton of space and those people were right there. There were some people that were tall enough if they’d reached over the banner, they could have touched the dogs,” said Topham. “So not only did they have to do their game they had to do it with thousands of people all the way around all four sides which isn’t something you ever really see at a tournament.”
They even had a very special guest participant with Dr. Donald Sturz, the president of the Westminster Kennel Club running the first heat of the first run with one of their dogs, a border collie named Cal.
They said the biggest hurdle they faced was the logistics of traveling to the show, explaining that each team must bring not only themselves and their dogs, but all their own equipment and props.
“You bring your own box, your own balls, your own props, you have to bring all of that with you. Luckily since we were both going, we got to share that stuff, so then it was figuring out who had room,” said Katie Kemats.
They said they hope to defend their title next year, but that their participation will once again be up to the luck of the draw as winning the tournament doesn’t guarantee a spot in next year’s competition.
They also encouraged anyone who is interested in flyball to give it a try, noting that it is the only team dog sport and that any healthy non-aggressive dog has the potential to run flyball. They also stressed that no experience is required for handler or dog, and that as many trainers own multiple dogs even having your own dog isn’t required to get started. Anyone interested in trying flyball locally can send an email to frenzyedflyersflybal@gmail.com or send a message on their Facebook page.
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