bored when training

Question
Thanks in advance for your insight.  I have a nine month old mixed Doberman/Rottweiler.  He is very high energy, but runs 10 fenced acres and swims a pond at his leisure.   Since he was about four months old, we have successfully completed -Puppy, Beginners and Novice classes.  Although, for his age I am very proud of his accomplishments-HE IS SO BORED while training.  I have changed to the most tempting treats and changed up our exercises so that there is little routine, but... to very little avail.  Any other ideas, or he is just young??  

Answer
Hi JC,
Sounds like you are doing great work with your high energy guy. There are many strategies to address your question. You may be familiar with the strategy called "Nothing for Free". This is not designed to be mean, but instead to put you into "trainer mode" more often. This also helps you practice short training sessions throughout the day which will help keep things lively and interesting for both of you.

Anytime that your dog wants ANYTHING including access to outside, dinner, access to the pond, etc. have him to a quick training session beforehand. This might be as simple as one sit or down. Then, reserve the really good things such as a stuffed Kong with his dinner for the end of a short training session when he does something extra special. For instance, if you are working on increasing his ability to Stay, give him small treats or verbal praise until he reaches his new goal (let's say 3 minutes instead of 2 minutes) and then give him the "jackpot" of the chewtoy, access to outside, his dinner, etc.

If you are not using Kong products, or other stuffable toys, try incorporating those into your training sessions. Hide them with amazing treats and hide them around your house or backyard and allow your dog to search for them, only after you release him after a Stay.

You also did not mention Frisbee or retrieve. Those are also great strategies to incorporate into your training. There are great books at http://www.dogwise.com to give you ideas.

Remember, keep the sessions short. You might be over-training and getting him bored. You want to stop training when he is still really interested in training, so the next time you ask him to do something, he is excited.  

You can also see my training strategies at my site: http://www.watchandtrain.com

I hope this helps.

Jeff