Getting dog to concentrate..any suggestions?

Wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to tricks/methods of teaching your dog to concentrate. She's a 3yr old Lab/Retriever cross with with what seems like boundless energy. It's not lack of exercise as we live on an acreage with wild life corridors on both sides of us so she is free to roam , chase birds and squirrels and we spend quit a bit of time outside with her throwing balls and sticks she loves to retrieve. The problem comes trying to teach her new things. She just doesn't want to sit calmly and concentrate. Everything seems to be a game and she just wants to rush into it.
She knows her basic obedience and is great at finding things but instead of calmly tracking , for example , she races around in the general direction until she comes across it.
Any suggestions as to how to calm her down (other than Prozac?? )

snip .....She knows her basic obedience and is great at finding things but instead of calmly tracking , for example , she races around in the general direction until she comes across it.
Any suggestions as to how to calm her down (other than Prozac?? ) .... snip

She is probably doing what works for her if as you say "she comes across it"
Is she quartering do you think?

My 10-month old English Shepherd puppy also has boundless energy. I usually have to play with him/let him run around in our fields for about 30 minutes or longer before he will even calm down. After this period of time, he usually get's into a training state of mind on his own. However, I can usually get his attention and focus quickly with a handful of treats. If this still doesn't work, I will put him on a leash and just stand there calmly holding the other end of it, or tie him up to a nearby tree for a few minutes. I let him loose again after a few minutes and if he still doesn't focus, repeat. I rarely ever have to resort to this, but when I do, it works quickly. I hope this works for you and if not, I'll research some more ways to get your dogs attention on you :3

-Gale

Clicker training is a great way of getting a dog to calmly focus on his handler.

This is a great article on the subject.

http://www.clickersolutions.com/arti.../attention.htm

Videos which may also help

I like controlled exercise so that I push my girl to her limit to tire her out and we bond together. Whether it's ball thrower, running, cycling, trekking or whatever it's better IMO to do that as your dog amusing itself isn't likely to tire itself out. Clicker training is fantastic and a great foundation to every other discipline trick is to be the most interesting thing in your dogs whole world