‘Treibball’, ‘Herding Ball’ or “Push Ball”, or urban herding is a sport from Germany that is a lot of fun for both handler and dog. The equipment needs are minimal and dogs of any size can be trained to play. Enrichment game
In this video, Jessie & Lucy introduce you to the basic skills needed to play. It’s a great rainy day activity to burn mental and physical energy! Ball should be your dog’s shoulder to head height, and Yoga balls work well. If your dog keeps popping the ball, try a hard plastic ‘pig ball’ or horse “Jolly” type ball.
Don’t have a treibball class near you? Take our private online classes via web cam (Skype or FaceTime) at home!
If you want to work on the more advanced skills, instead of where I use the ‘wait’, practice sending the dog to a mat or foot target behind the ball, teaching directionals (left, right) and ball selection.
Check out my other ‘how to’ treibball videos with Duke, the rat terrier.
Enjoy!
Link to video of dog playing the Treibball game:
Treibball rules:
Want to ask questions?
Check out this discussion group:
cullyvan
07.07.2022Thank you for this great video. I understand you use the click with a reward to teach that the click sound is for positive behavior. Do you fade out the treat at some point and just use the clicks? Is there any method to the clicks? What do you use to make the clicking sound?
cullyvan
06.07.2022Thank you for this great video. I understand you use the click with a reward to teach that the click sound is for positive behavior. Do you fade out the treat at some point and just use the clicks? Is there any method to the clicks? What do you use to make the clicking sound?
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
06.07.2022@cullyvan Each click is always followed by a reinforcement of some kind. The click is faded first (once the dog can reliably perform the finished behavior), then the treat and a different reward is used (a ball etc.). Finally, the game itself becomes rewarding for many dogs, like retrieving, herding etc. If you are interested in learning more about how to use the clicker, check out clickertrainingdotcom and clickersolutionsdot com. (I only spell it out as this message will not accept web links).
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
06.07.2022@cullyvan You can use the commerical clickers available at most pet stores or make a noise with your mouth (like a cluck or pop) or use a word that marks the behavior-such as "Yes!' ,'Yup!' etc. The more precise the sound, the better is it as a marker.
Natalie Gjertsen
06.07.2022Thanks for this!! Great video. Can't wait to start with my BCs.
Nancy Tanner
06.07.2022thanks, this video is awesome…
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
06.07.2022@Owwle That's what we were told she was. Mom was a BC for sure. From her behaviors though, I think she's either a pointer ro dalmatian, not lab. She ates water, smiles, points and is VERY birdy, squirrelly, rabbity. Runs like a pointer too. Loves trailing thing swith her nose. Found a sparrow nest in the ground the other day by sniffing backward on the parent's flight path. Any dog can do this! Check out the rat terrier I was training! D
Sacha Wells
06.07.2022I am going to try this with my dog! If I don't ever plan to be in competitions, I assume the same techniques would work if I used soccer balls or something? He already likes those type of balls.
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
06.07.2022@edwardtheinsane It's actually easier with larger balls, especially if your dog bites the smaller ones. otherwise you have ti go bcd and proof for the biting. As they get more excited about it, they tend to bite the ball.
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
06.07.2022@crocheter0808 Start with w]training the presence of, but not with any interaction with the ball. The ball should be far enough away that the dog can focus on you and be successful. Move it closer incrementally. Eventually have the ball right nearby but ask for other related behaviors such as 'go around'. If the dog can't focus, start with placing the ball on a chair or box above nose level, then lower it as the dog learns to control self.
alomaro Entrenamiento Canino Libre de Estrés
06.07.2022Great Tutorial!!!!Thanks!!!
Saludos
Omar
suzu
04.07.2022This is great! I've been looking for an easy and fun hobby for me and my BCx, and this seems just perfect!
pacificprospector
04.07.2022@Pandaraze I love it as it takes little space or equipment ad can be done pretty much anywhere. Dogs seem to really enjoy it!
pacificprospector
04.07.2022@Butterfort I know people that use the same cues for the same behaviours in different sports, while others make up different ones for different sports as they are worried they might mess up the already known cues. It depends on the level of training you plan to take your dog to. The more different scenarios the dog learns a cue, the more they are likely to start understanding them as a concept. (right or left, for example).
pacificprospector
04.07.2022Concept training becomes handy when you have a novel situation and can use known cues to talk your dog through the new scenario without the dog ever having done a similar scenario in the past as in service dog training. It's pretty cool!
Cera W.
04.07.2022This is a really great video! Nice work!
amazingmutts
04.07.2022Love it! My Siberian Husky loves to herd everything, but just started to herd our basset hound, Sara. It's kind of funny but Sara isn't too thrilled about it. I've been wanting to look into treiball and came across your video. I'll start working with her on this soon. I think she'll love it!
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
04.07.2022@collbonz Glad you like it! Check out my other videos about teaching a paw target as they will come in handy later for send outs and when working with multiple balls. It's a great sport of ages and sizes as it is not as taxing on them physically as other sports can be.
suzycb9
04.07.2022This video seems great but got stuck at teach the dogs to even understand how to look at the door let alone touch it. Both my dogs know how to touch. What is the process for getting them to touch the door?
akyramoto
04.07.2022thanks for this video! I started teaching my pup how to play. I had already taught her to close cupboard doors and she knows how to target very well. I taught her to go around an object in two sessions, now she's learning to be on the opposite side of the object & learning to stay opposite of me. We've done two sessions with targeting the ball, it's really hard to click her sometimes because she gets over enthusiastic and wants to target the ball with her foot. We're getting there though!
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
04.07.2022Sounds like you are progressing well. If she continues to use her paw, try raising the ball off the ground (between your legs or in a box).
akyramoto
02.07.2022I've just been not clicking for a paw touch, she's starting to get it. so far she can push it about 2' away from me. Haven't gotten the whole 'directing' the ball to me yet, but I think thats the next step
dooggyloover
02.07.2022This is great! but my dogs would rather pop it and drag it around the yard. :/
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
02.07.2022Check out my nose push for ball biters video.
Simba S
02.07.2022Great video!
ajm2177
02.07.2022Donna, great video. How do you teach the dog to understand your hand/arm signals of which direction to push?
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
02.07.2022Add them as the dog is pushing in that direction. The same process as capturing a behavior. (I have a video on that topic)
Joanne McKinnon
02.07.2022Special thank you for making this clip closed-captioned. My border collie, Molly will really enjoy this game.
Darryl Halse
02.07.2022Awesome video, Donna! Looking forward to working on this with our dogs.
teruhiiko
02.07.2022Fun! I can't wait to play this
ldtaggart-active
02.07.2022Way cool! Thank you for taking the time to make a video. I think Treibball will be a great activity for my dog and this is a great help in planning how to train him.
Annie Russ
01.07.2022Great video Donna, I am working on this with my English Shepherd, we are having so much fun!
Global Dog Village (Donna Hill)
01.07.2022Glad you are enjoying it!
Ar Acech
01.07.2022Great tutorial, I've heard some people use a treatball to teach a dog to roll it, but your take is pretty cool
Johanna Söderberg
01.07.2022Thank you for a GREAT tutorial! I am so excited about getting started!
Tracey Harrison
01.07.2022Love love love how you put this together Donna. Very fun and straight forward…off to practice/play 😀
Zoë Unruh
01.07.2022Your videos have been so helpful for me =) They're so detailed and your channel has so much unique information! Thanks for uploading!
Dona Zander
01.07.2022I have an American Staffordshire Terrier- what size balls should be used -and specifically what kind of balls, and where to purchase?
Dona Zander
01.07.2022Thank you for the ball size, now, what grain sand paper is used for the nails? Our Amstaff is a rescue and came with ball obsession and nail clipping fears; we have overcome the ball obsession and now continue working to get the nails fear conquered! Thank you
Sara Beet
01.07.2022Where did you get the gates that you used to create the goal? 🙂
This is a great intro to how to teach the game. 🙂 Love it.
Bridget Boyle
01.07.2022I'm glad that I found this video. I have a black german shepherd and I really think he will enjoy this sport. Thank for the tips! I am guaranteed to be a cool Mommy now. 🙂
Nixtaj
30.06.2022Ok, I need some help please people. how do Get my dog to actually touch my hand? He will just sniff, or lick :/ . Any help would be greatly appreciated, he is so eager for a job
Shannon Hibbard
30.06.2022Thanks for the awesome video! My Australian Kelpie tore her ACL about 6 months ago and the other one is on its way out, so until we can save up some money for another TPLO surgery, we have to keep the fetch to a minimum. I think treibball will be a good way to exercise her brain AND body. I am training for a company right now, but when I strike out on my own, I'd love to teach treibball classes because I am in LOVE with the correctionless, positive-reinforcement-only ruleset.
crazeedogs
30.06.2022Love this very informative easy to understand tutorial. All of your videos are awesome. Thanks so much. I am starting this with several of my pups as soon as I get the balls. 🙂
Monica M
30.06.2022Why do you throw the treat instead of hand-feeding? That's a new one for me
Allie Paquin
30.06.2022I have to admit when I first saw videos of Treibball competitions I thought it looked boring, but after seeing this video of how to train it, it actually looks ridiculously fun. My 9 year old pittie mix Gypsy loves clicker training for learning new behaviors (and earning rewards lol) but I have been at a stand-still, I couldn't think of anything else to teach her. I am going to start this tomorrow, can't wait to get going! Thank you for posting this video!
Claudia Beltran
30.06.2022How old does my dog need to be in order to start this training? Mine is only 4 months old….so I guess I have to wait a little. Right? ; )
Lana Pettey
30.06.2022Thanks for this great video. Looks so easy with a calm dog. My BC gets out of control through with a ball. We'll have to start over.
Alice Baker
30.06.2022I am a veterinarian and am putting together a lecture on the various dog sports for other veterinarians. Do you mind if I use your video?
Karen Alaniz
30.06.2022Can't wait to teach this to my deaf Aussie! It's perfect because everything here can be done with hand signals (sign language). Love it!