Six-year-old border collie Wiley has helped his team take out second place at the National Flyball Championships for 2019.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A sport not known to many, owner Mel Tovey gave some context.
"It's basically a relay race between two teams, so four dogs race for a team with up to two reserves," she said.
"They relay one dog at a time over four jumps, then at the end of that they do a swimmer's turn on a spring loaded box that pops out a tennis ball which they have to catch while turning, then come back over the four jumps to the owner for their reward, and the next dog runs."
This year's championships were held over two days in Brisbane's Wacol, meaning the Illabo-based dog had to travel.
"There were over 200 dogs this time for about 32 teams," Mrs Tovey said.
"It was over two days in two rings, and Wiley ran in Division two with the Impulse Control team for our club which is actually based in Newcastle."
The proud owner came across flyball at the Hawkesbury Show one year where they were doing a demo, and asked how to get involved. Within a week, they signed up to a club.
Starting at just one and now five years on, Wiley is a part of the Maximum Velocity club.
"We do have to travel a fair bit seeing as there are no flyball clubs around here," Mrs Tovey said.
With training once a week to keep Wiley in shape, Mrs Tovey said it was a natural talent for him.
"He's such a smart dog, he'll never forget the rythm," she said.