Waiting until he's fully mature is a good plan. It's actually recommended to not even run w/ your dog until 1 yr because it can cause premature arthritis. It looks like you have a fair sized backyard. You could do tracking w/ hotdog and simple commands (sit, here, stay, heel, etc.) a half hr an evening and I bet in a week you would already be thinking of new tricks!

That skid boot story is too cool. I hadn't seen that one.