Skinnieminnie,
Its clear you really love your dog. I would say you are on the right track with him, with the "dual approach". That is you can work both on "life enrichment" for your dog as well as training.
Of course training done positively, is also fun and enriching for the dog, so I guess its all sort of the same thing if you think of it that way.
Is there any where you can safely let your dog run free, chase a ball, that sort of thing? Life constantly on a leash or chain, IMO, is unnatural for dogs and leads to huge frustration and pent up energy. I don't know what NSW Australia is like in terms of either safe fenced areas you could go to, or safe open areas where you would not meet dangerous wildlife, cars, or other dogs that might be problematic. Of course you would not want to let him run free in an unfenced area until/unless you knew he would come back when called, so starting in a fenced yard, or fenced park would be the thing to do.
if you can't find a safe fenced area, even getting a 50 foot light rope for a long leash, that you could put him on, and then play retrieving games, might really help his mental state. You want to be very careful not to let him get away from you though, as the rope would tangle in the brush somewhere and you might not be able to find him!
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