Going Forward and Backward

It's a lovely cold day in the Midwest. I had trouble sleeping and what with it being my birthday today hubby let me sleep in. This is NOT good (although I can't be angry, his intentions are good!) as this puts me waaaaay behind schedule. So only time to work some fine-tuning with the dogs. It is very time consuming to train THREE dogs at once. Shiloh worked the glove #3 pivot. I found a huge hole in my training in that I never taught him how to move his rear. He can walk backward heeling, but he cannot pivot. Gosh no wonder we always lose points on glove #3!
Blitz just continues to be amazing and eager. He is a thrill to train. We did some fronts and finishes with him. His biggest problem is crooked sits so I'm helping him learn the "straight" command. He tries so hard and is so excited.
Moto....*sigh*. It is hard to be patient with him. Yesterday I was excited in that when playing with the dogs, for the first time ever he retrieved the ball. Not once, but several times. I thought we had a breakthrough. The dumbbell though is still a huge problem. He does not realize that he has to come TO it. I found myself getting frustrated and I could see he felt it so we stopped and did some more fun, moving stuff (some heeling and recalls). Then I decided to throw the dumbbell with all five dogs present. Shiloh, Dusty and Blitz all fought to get it. Moto saw this and I was hoping he'd fight to get it, too. Then I realized Daisy was trying to take over the game and wouldn't let Moto play. So I removed everyone but just Shiloh and Moto. I'd throw the dumbbell, Shiloh would get it and get rewarded with tons of praise and a treat. Still, Moto didn't try to get it. So I put the dumbbell on the ground, leashed him and said "take it" and moved him to it on lead. He did it and brought it back (we are talking about 1' of freedom). I praised enthusiastically and treated. We did this three times with Shiloh screaming to get it. Finished with Shiloh getting the dumbbell, showed it to Moto, played with it myself so that he was jumping to it, and then I put it away. I need to do this several times a day. Maybe. My biggest fear is putting a negative connotation with the dumbbell. But, we HAVE to get a retrieve. Without it I can't move on to scent discrimination or gloves.
Meanwhile heeling is coming along nicely. He needs to go to the prong as he is forging (a good problem to have). He's learning he has to pay attention as I'm upping the ante. He is also getting his finishes and fronts are coming along. So much more to teach, not enough time!