Hi. I've posted on here a few times since getting my puppy Atlas. He's been a bit different than the dogs I've had before/grown up with. I had a Sam as a kid and in my teen years I had a Labrador that I did dog shows with in 4H (obedience, agility, showmanship). That gave me a lot of experience in dog training which has been super useful... except my new puppy is 10x smarter than the lab we had.

I have taught him sit, stay, heel, lay down, follow, come, wait, shake, wave, touch (He boots your hand),look at me and spin. He does half of them without treats although he prefers food rewards. Granted sometimes he will grumble at me if he just doesn't want to do it. I have only had him for 2 weeks. I just don't know what else to teach him because I can tell he needs more mental stimulation. I bought him puzzles that he runs through in 5 seconds at this point. But with him still getting his vaccines done I can't enroll him in puppy classes. Oh and he just naturally fetches things during play. We do take him on walks 2x a day. But I can tell he is still bored because he only rings the bell for attention if he isn't getting enough stimulation.

On one hand it's super awesome to have such a smart fellow. But on the other... a bored Sammy is a menace. Has anyone had this experience too? What else could I teach him? Sorry for the long post.