America’s dogs are on a roll playing Treibball
Print Edition
With shouts of “point” and “drive” from her handler, the 3-year-old German shepherd charges into the triangle of brightly colored rubber orbs, scattering them with her nose like a cue breaking balls on a pool table. Then, zigging and zagging, Riley nudges the big purple one expertly down the field and into the goal.
“There’s a good girrrrrrl,” Melissa Breau coos as she engages in a brief tug-of-war with Riley’s favorite chew toy. Playtime over, Breau calls out to the judge for the next ball color.
This is Treibball — German for “drive ball,” or more loosely translated, “ball herding.”
The sport originated in that country about a decade ago, migrating to the United States four years ago.
“Our organization has grown literally from just a few people to a little over 400 people in six countries,” says Dianna Stearns, co-founder and current president of the American Treibball Association. Another group, the Montana-based World Treibball League, started in 2012.
Bobby Chastain, one of about 140 ATA-certified Treibball instructors, says the sport helps dogs develop focus, confidence and impulse control.
“We have a lot of reactive dogs in it,” says Chastain, whose own dogs compete. “We have a lot of shy dogs in it. We have a lot of dogs that have a tremendous amount of energy. It helps burn the energy, but also can help calm a dog with high anxiety, because they’re working.”
The rules are pretty simple.
Eight exercise balls are arranged in a triangle at center field and the canines have a certain time to “herd” them toward their handler and into a goal.
Marcia Pines’ 11-year-old Belgian Tervuren, Logan, has been a titled agility dog. The North Carolina woman sees Treibball as a low-impact way to keep him active “in his golden years.”
She says: “Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?”
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