Herding Balls for Dogs – Whole Dog Journal

A herding ball is a large, sturdy ball that is designed to be pushed around – not picked up – by a dog. Herding balls are not meant to be fetched, though there is a sport that rewards a dog’s ability to intentionally direct the ball toward you, or into a goal, on your cue. Dogs may use pressure against the ball with their noses, mouths, paws, and/or legs to send the balls rolling across a field at top speed, or by using their shoulders or hips to body the balls around turns, through gates, or into a soccer-net type of goal. The activity can be fantastic fun for athletic, energetic dogs.

However, you may not be able to accurately predict whether your dog will enjoy a herding ball; I couldn’t! It turns out that Woody, my fetch-obsessed Pit/Lab-mix, could not care less about balls that are too big to pick up and carry in his mouth.

In contrast, Boone, my fuzz-faced mutt who fetches only in order to run away with the fetch item, hoping that someone will chase him – that dog developed new life goals within a millisecond of coming in contact with a herding ball. (He aspires to set land-speed records for ball herding and ball-herding obstacle courses.)

What’s even more extreme than “obsessed”? That’s Boone and herding balls – and you know how it is when someone you love immerses himself completely in a new hobby? – you get some real enjoyment from indulging their newfound passion. I’ve been buying all sorts of herding balls for Boone to try out, and together we’ve developed some strong opinions about these toys.

Here’s what I’ve learned about herding balls over the past month of spoiling Boone with a wide variety of the toys:

How are herding balls made?

Herding balls are made with a variety of materials – and it’s likely that your dog will strongly prefer some materials to others. Some herding balls are made with hard, impervious plastics, in order to make it impossible for a dog to pick up the ball in his mouth (herding balls are meant to be pushed, not carried!). But even different types of hard plastics have a different feel – a slightly different hardness, if that makes sense. Out of two top-selling hard plastic herding balls, Boone has developed a passion for one ball and utter disdain for the other; go figure. You can guess what your dog might like most, but you’ll probably have to try a few to find out.

Hard plastic herding balls are not inflated; they are molded in a globe shape that cannot be compressed. They roll faster than balls made of other materials. They are highly resistant to damage from the dog’s teeth and claws (and crashing into brick walls and sidewalk edges), though the softer hard plastic can develop gouges and micro-ridges that are sharp enough to cut a dog’s nose, lips, or tongue as he pushes it at speed. I’ve occasionally had to use sandpaper to smooth the surface of Boone’s favorite.

Other herding balls are made with a thick, dense material that has a rubbery feel. Like the hard plastic balls, these balls are not inflated, but they can be grabbed, picked up, and compressed by a big dog with a strong jaw; fortunately, they pop back into a globe shape immediately upon being dropped.

These balls don’t roll as quickly as the harder balls, but neither do they develop the kind of scratches and gouges that the hard plastic balls do. If a big dog who aggressively chews toys was left alone with one of these balls, it could get chewed up.

The last type of ball is the only one used by dogs in herding-ball sports, though they are not made for this purpose. Rather, they are the kind of large, soft, inflatable balls that are used for human exercise and yoga. Some dogs enjoy pushing these bouncy, slightly yielding balls to the exclusion of all others – and some dogs can’t resist biting (and popping) them. I’m looking at you, Boone!

How big are herding balls?

Herding balls are made in a variety of sizes – and the size of the ball affects how safe it is for your dog to play with. In the sport of Treibball, where dogs push soft exercise balls toward their handlers on cue, care is taken so that the balls used do not measure less than 5 centimeters (about 2 inches) below the dog’s shoulder, in order to prevent injuries. It’s thought that dogs are subject to far more injuries when they are bending low to push the balls.

However, the balls that I give to my dog for unstructured play are nowhere near that size – and, as I watch Boone careen all over my property in wild pursuit of the ball, I can see how the activity could lead to injury. Chasing the small herding balls definitely poses a risk of injury to dogs like Boone; you will have to decide whether the fun and exercise is worth the risk for your dog.

I’m not sure I would want a very small dog to play with any of the hard balls, no matter what size. If even a very small hard ball bounced and hit my friend’s 5-lb dog Samson, I think he’d get hurt.

Rewarding fun

If you have a sturdy and energetic dog who likes to chase things and play with toys – particularly, if you have a dog who is a herding breed or a herding breed-mix, consider buying him or her a herding ball for recreation and exercise. Bringing my dog and one of these balls to a large, grassy sports field is now our favorite thing to do.

In fact, Boone is having so much fun with these toys that I am now using play time with one as a reward for his quick compliance with other cues. When he’s barking at a passerby at the far end of my two-acre property, nothing gets him back to me faster than the words, “Hey Boone! Where’s your ball?!”