Treibball - When the Dog Herds a Balloon

This is really what this sport is about – herding balloons. The aim is the same as for herding sheep, get all the balls into the gate. And do not be mistaken, treiball is not only for herding dogs. You can do this sport with dogs of any race, size and age.

Treiball was invented by a Dutchman living in Germany. His original aim was to keep his herding dogs busy when they did not have anything to do. The sport was spotted in the Czech Republic for the first time in 2010 during a seminar and its first course took place two years later. But nowadays, three competition categories and two size categories already exist.

It is always about moving a certain number of balloons in the shape of a triangle into a gate in the shortest time. Faults such as helping by hands or legs or leaving the goalmouth are penalised. The difficulty increase from one balloon up to eight balloons in the distance of 20 metres. And do not think that treiball is good only for herding dogs. You can do it with dogs of any size, breed and age. Unlike other sports, it is not so demanding for the locomotor apparatus and that is why even smaller dogs might enjoy it.

And neither is it demanding for the dog handler. So, if you do not want to do agility with your four-legged companion and rush after him all the time, this may become your favourite sport. Even not so sporty people and dogs can enjoy this sport and spend some quality time together. And you don’t even need any expensive special equipment for training. You need only 1 – 8 gymnastic balloons (the diameter of 40 – 70 cm) and flat surface without bumps. To mark the gates some sticks or cones are enough. If you have this option, the perfect place would be a football pitch. There is no need to mark the gates.