Kodiak Launches First Flyball Club for High-Energy Dogs

Kodiak’s first flyball club has opened a new lane for high-drive dogs that need more than a walk and a fenced yard to stay sane. The community’s first introductory class wrapped up April 14 at Kodiak Baptist Mission, where Kristen McCormack of Kodiak Good Dog finished a four-week series with ten dogs and their handlers, including Rusty, Delilah and Huey.

Flyball fits Kodiak’s hard-charging dogs because it asks for speed, focus and brains at the same time. The sport is a relay race for four-dog teams, with each dog jumping a line of hurdles, triggering a ball box and sprinting back so the next runner can go. McCormack said the work wears dogs out mentally as well as physically, because they have to problem-solve while they run, jump and retrieve.

The class reflected that mix of athleticism and thinking. McCormack had the dogs working through jumps and cone practice, and she improvised training gear with plywood and Velcro boards instead of standard spring-loaded flyball boxes. That kind of low-tech setup matters in Kodiak, where full competition infrastructure is not already in place but the appetite for something more demanding than basic obedience is clearly there.

It also matters because Alaska has been thin on flyball access. The North American Flyball Association says there are only three registered places to learn the sport in the state, and all of them are in Anchorage. NAFA lists Alaska as Region 18, with Stacy Smith as the regional director based in Anchorage. Across the United States and Canada, NAFA says there are more than 375 active clubs, which makes Alaska’s small footprint stand out even more.

The first Kodiak class drew owners with different goals, but all of them were trying to channel the same kind of energy. Dave Knight said Rusty’s training could help with duck-hunting-related commands, a practical payoff for a dog that needs a job. Loren Featherston said she had already set up a practice flyball course at home for her corgi Huey, and she described the satisfaction of watching a dog finally understand the game as a big emotional reward.

Kodiak’s new club also adds another chapter to Alaska’s short flyball history. NAFA’s news archive points to Alaska Dogs Gone Wild as the first Alaska flyball club in a 2006 Anchorage Daily News feature, and it also references Alaska’s first flyball tournament at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer that June. Two decades later, Kodiak is pushing the sport beyond the Railbelt, and that could be the difference between a novelty class and a lasting dog-sport community on the island.