I've been working with Leo and trying to do that at least twice a day. I'm using treats for proper performance and keep working on sit, down, come and stay. I've also started adding heel to the routine. He does respond well IF there are no distractions. I bought a 30 foot leash and, if the weather dries out a little, will start working with him outside as well.
Mrs. Awsum introduced him to climbing the steps to the deck. The first time he went up fine but wouldn't go back down, the steps at the side door are concrete while the deck is just 2x12 on stringers with no backs and they do look higher even though they're the same height. I ended up letting him in
through the sliding door. Now we have a "monster". Every trip outside includes a visit to the deck and he stares at the "doggy in the window". He is coming back down the stairs on his own now.
That's leading to a major step, for him. We don't want him jumping until he's at least a year old. Giant breeds are prone to torn ACL from doing exactly that, too much weight early on for the ACL to safely handle, so we're introducing a ramp. He's starting to get to be a real handful to pick up and put into the Jeep so the ramp will handle that. I put the ramp, flat, on the floor and he was very cautious of it at first. Then he started walking and sitting on it. Now, I've got it on a slope with a 2x4 under one end and he had no problem with that. I'll switch to a 2x6 and see how that goes, then a 2x8 or 2x12 until he's comfortable with walking up and down the slope. After that I'll move it outside to the deck stairs. There's no rush, I can still pick him up with no problem other than him squirming, but it would be a heck of a lot easier to have him just use the ramp to get in and out.
