Motivation training

Well motivation is not something Maisy & I struggle with, I have however come to realise that her over enthusiastic approach to everything is sometimes stress related, she isn't what you would call a stressy dog but the signs do appear particularly when she is being asked to do something new, for example Amy took her to obedience training last night, for Maisy this was a completely alien enviroment with people and dogs she didn't know, to start with she just dug her heels in and bounced all over the place but as the night progressed she settled into some acceptable heelwork, even if she was taking the mickey out of Amy as she went. then it was Summers turn, as Amy warmed her up I noticed that when Amy used her best motivational approach to gee her up it was having the opposite effect and was making her lagg so we tried a new technique which was to have a game and take out the formality going straight into the heelwork, slowing down on the corners to give her time to keep the position and throwing her ball forward to encourage her forward, when she went into her lesson Summer really was stunning, I have never seen her work in such a stylish motivated way, her tail was flying high and she was showing us her cheeky side, Amy is now going to try to develop her own training technique just for Summer which utlises both motivational and clicker, but keeping the voice commands to a minimum which seems to drive her into thinking for herself. I know it has been harder that Amy likes to admit going from a steady dog like Ben to a thinker like Summer, but last night we saw that relationship blossom to the next level, still many levels to go but a great start to winter training.