Huge Training Hole

Dag nab it! It seems with every dog I have, there is one big training hole. And, it's more mental than the actual training problem. With Dusty I had early success and my head got too big. I focused on winning than actual time with my dog. With Shiloh I didn't handle him physically as much as I should have, which led to leadership issues. Just discovered my issue with Moto, and as usual it wasn't ME that saw the problem, it was a trainer *sigh*. We attended our first agility lesson since the accident. Shiloh was sooooo happy. As we went around the course when he saw the weave poles he actually let out a cry of joy and accelerated into them. This dog has blazing fast weave poles, but these were lightening fast. His eyes were much brighter after that lesson. But Mr. Moto...oh, dear. I feared the intermediate class was above his head and told the trainer so. Doing more than 4 jumps was an issue but something we could quickly overcome. I knew he'd need a reminder of the dog walk and the teeter. When we got to the dogwalk he went up it slowly, freaked out at the top and jumped off. My trainer came over and with me on one side and she on the other, we encouraged Moto up the dogwalk again, and where he freaked out we let him stop and gather himself, then gently encouraged him to continue. He did so and came down just fine. Her observation is that I've "wussified" my dog! Normally I'd take umbrage to this fact but this time I believe she is somewhat correct. She was very kind as wasn't dressing me down, in fact she understood how it came about. During the early weeks after my accident Moto and I really built our relationship. I can say that it's rock-solid and he cares about pleasing me. He's my heart dog and I'm absolutely in love with him. But - probably because of my injured demeanor - I've probably done a bit of wussification. She suggested I move back down into the beginner class next week and we'll "macho" him up a bit. I think that will be a goal we can accomplish.
Obedience training: I re-introduced articles this week. Moto picked up almost exactly where I left off. In 2 days time we are already onto 3 articles. This dog loves to think and it's so much fun watching him reason out the articles. I'm teaching the "around the clock" method with squeeze cheese and he is enjoying this. Also worked on go-outs and he is quickly picking up the pace on that, too. My ultimate goal is that I can take him to a sho n go and put him in Novice, Open and Utility. when he is able to do that, and qualify in all three, he will be ready for the show ring. Of course that's years away but that will be my benchmark of when he will be ready.