You should know if it's worth the wait if you've had the dog from a pup,you should be able to read the signs of has it or hasn't it got what it takes,my russell bitch has taken a little while to switch on but i could tell she was worth waiting for and she's now 2 years old.A few like yourself would have given her up at 18 month old as she wouldn't be rushed to ground as such and even now you need to let her have her sniff around and let her drop in when she's ready,take her to a hole on a lead and ask her to go straight in and she won't,she just needs her own time and this winter has seen her