What does it mean to work with your dog's drive? First, you want to find the thing that most motivates your dog. Think of something that piques your dog's interest like food or prey. Arousal is the level of excitement they show when presented with that stimulus, and persistence is the annoying way they obsess over that thing! So when you think of different things that capture your dog's attention, take note of their level of arousal and the length of time they choose to stay engaged with that stimulus, which is their persistence.
Some dogs will have more food drive, some more prey/hunting drive, and others have more play drive. Dogs with high prey drive will even have a preference for different types of prey, this might be a squirrel, chipmunk, or fluttering of birds. Other dogs are more closely attuned to larger prey like skunks, cats, deer, or even horses!
Many dogs are persistent about play. If your dog finds play most rewarding, then you must be the most playful "dog" in the environment. If your dog find prey most rewarding, be the prey! The great thing to note is that these two things are very closely related. Play is denoted by chasing and being chased, and so is hunting! Running away from your dog is one of the things I have to constantly coach people to do with their dogs. Most people want to move towards their dog, which puts social pressure on the dog, and makes the dog the "object' which in hunting terms is synonymous with prey.
Work on being soft, feeling loose, running away, and attracting your dog's prey and play drive. Always have food at the ready for those dogs who are chow hounds, or a toy on hand for play and prey-making.
Do you think you have a high-drive or low-drive dog? How do you know how strong your dog's play or prey drive is? How they display their arousal and persistence?