Ok, so for four days we had done the; "you touch the ball with your nose, you get a treat" and Eabha was rapidly growing in confidence with it! I could now put the ball on the floor, roll it and she'd follow, even use it as a lure.  Just to make doubly sure she had really got the idea and to show her that balls could be fun, I took her to a nearby field and threw the ball, I had to run with her, as again her confidence was holding her back, BUT she did it and looked happy doing it! So we both chased the ball for 10 minutes or so, Eabha consistently touching it with her nose, it was time to take the next step!
When freeshaping, (which is what I have been doing so far) you dont ask the dog to do anything, but they only get the reward when they offer certain behaviours, such as touching a ball, when you want them to offer something slightly better such as pawing at it or even picking it up, you STOP clicking/saying "yes" confident dogs will often get a litttle annoyed at the fact that they have done what has gotten them the treat so far and it isn't working! So they give you NEW behaviours. The problem I had with Eabha was that she had "low self esteem" so if I stopped rewarding her all the training I had done could easily be lost, so I decided to do something quite risky... I physically (but very gently) put the ball in her mouth, the risk was that she may find such an action too invasive and could easily freak her out, I must have done it ten times, then RESULT she did it herself! I cannot tell you how relieved I was! I knew Eabha didn't have the confidence to try something new herself, so physically showing her what I wanted was the right choice! PHEW! So for the next couple of day I simply held the ball in my hand, she would pick it up and get her "yes" and reward!