'IT'S GOING to be a bit loud because nobody shuts up in here," Lisa DosPassos warned over the yaps and barks echoing off the metal walls of the warehouse in Wyndmoor.
DosPassos, an occupational therapist from Chester County, wore a bright purple shirt with a picture of a parking meter and a tennis ball on the back, and the words "Philadelphia Barking Authority."
The Philadelphia Barking Authority is a flyball team - a sport for dogs and their handlers that is basically a relay race, complete with hurdles and a spring-loaded box that releases balls for the dogs to catch before they head back to the starting line.
Individual teams consist of four dogs and fall into three divisions, based on the North American Flyball Association's guidelines: regular, multi-breed and veteran, for dogs over 6 years old.
People typically get involved in flyball because they have energetic dogs that need more activity. The owners enjoy the camaraderie of other dog lovers.
"That's one of the things that's really fun about the sport - it's all ages, all professions. The thing we have in common is we all love our dogs," said Edie Williams, a retired researcher for Johnson & Johnson whose two long-haired dachshunds - one's named Marilyn Monroe - and Jack Russell terrier compete.
The Barking Authority has four teams - two regulars, a multi-breed (each member of the team is a different breed) and a veteran - that compete regionally and nationally. The rest of the 30-or-so canine members are flyball rookies who practice regularly but don't compete. The team meets Friday evenings at Y2K9s, a dog-sports facility on Mermaid Lane in Wyndmoor.
Practices are divided into two parts: training the newbies and working the experienced dogs.
The veterans' team was a dog short last Friday, but Millie, a 6-year-old Border collie; Toby, a 9-year-old cockapoo; and Stella, an 8-year-old Jack Russell terrier, practiced anyway.
Toby has been with the Barking Authority since its inception about eight years ago. His handler, Fred Hernandez, a Ryder University marketing professor from Horsham, saw a flyball demonstration at Petsmart, and Toby's fate was sealed.
"We wanted our dog to have something to do," Hernandez said, later adding, "It's a great way to keep a dog in shape."
Toby has been competing for more than six years, which Hernandez said is not only fun for the dogs but a great bonding experience among the handlers, too.
Typically, races are held on a Saturday and Sunday, and the handlers often go out to eat on Saturday night to revel in their successes and laugh about their failures. Of which there can be plenty.
"You're going to have a comedy of errors," said Jeremy Traas, a researcher at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from Chestnut Hill. "That's one of the neat elements - you never know what the dogs are going to do."
Traas, a handler who also coaches on the Barking Authority teams, is a flyball veteran. He's from Minnesota, one of several north-central states where flyball is huge (Michigan alone has 20 teams). The sport is even bigger in Canada.
He owns Stella, the Jack Russell on the veteran team, but when he saw Toby struggling to finish the course, Traas didn't hesitate to go to the starting line to help Hernandez.
Toby was running around the hurdles to avoid one of the other dogs. Traas offered some suggestions, but Toby still ran off-course as she returned to the start with her ball.
"Let's run Toby by himself; he's afraid of Stella," shouted Edie Williams, a veteran like Hernandez and the team's primary box-loader, putting a new ball in the box as each dog runs the course.
Williams was right, Hernandez said later. A few years ago at practice, a black lab bit Toby while he was running back to the starting line. Now Toby usually runs in last position because if he sees a dog coming toward him, he will go around the jumps to get away from it.
"My job [as handler] is to provide comfort for my dog. If he doesn't run last, I have to stay close to him so that he doesn't run around the jumps," Hernandez explained. "That's why we practice, to learn what to do as a handler."
The team trains rookies one at a time. The dogs wait for their turn in their carriers or cars.
Training pace and tactics are tailored to the individual dogs. Almost half of the Barking Authority dogs are rescue dogs, and they may take longer to train than a young, one-owner dog.
The dogs learn to jump one hurdle at a time, but most important is getting the dog to return to the starting line. During training, handlers may run next their dogs, shouting encouragement and dangling a reward - usually a favorite tug toy.
"It's all about getting your dog to think you're the most exciting thing in the world after they get the ball," said Barbara Blotter, Barking Authority's captain for the past three years. She has a 5-month-old Border collie, Peak, who worked on flat-out running and chasing a tug toy last Friday - which is typical for a pup. They don't start jumping on the box to retrieve a ball until they're at least a year old and their bones have fully developed.
Barking Authority teams will participate in regional races this weekend against groups from Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, working toward a spot in the national competition, held in Arizona in November.
The Barking Authority won the regionals last year and a few hardy members trekked out to Arizona, though they didn't win.
Up to 55 teams and as many as 400 dogs will compete at this weekend's tournament at the Marple Sports Arena in Broomall.
The team attends about 15 such tournaments a year, traveling as far north as Vermont, and as far south as North Carolina.
Kelly McNelis, the youngest handler on the team at 17, joined three years ago with her father, Bob McNelis, and their Border collie, Millie. Now she has a second Border collie, Chase, who is 2 years old and one of the fastest flyballers on the team - clocking in at 3.9 seconds so far on the 51-foot course.
"It's a good thing to do with my dad - bonding, sort of, I guess," she said. Kelly went to the nationals last year with the team, and she's going to go again this year, if only for the sheer fun of watching flyball.
Flyball "brings people from all different ways of life," said team captain Barbara Blotter, who, like most everyone else on the team, proudly claims that she loves her five dogs like children.
"This is like a family," Blotter said. *
Philadelphia Barking Authority Flyball Tournament, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. tomorrow-Sunday, Marple Sports Arena, 611 S. Park Way, Broomall. Admission is free. Microchip and heartworm clinics will be available for a fee. Information at www.fetchthefun.com.