Mine has been a bit of a Velcro dog; meaning he would stay with me fairly well. I took him to the school yard across the street from my house where we worked on staying with me off leash. We walk a lot in the town we live in and he will stay within 10 feet of me and will recall fairly well. If we are in heavy traffic he get placed on lead. If we are on a trail that is heavily used again lead is put on. I would agree with obedience training being the major thing. The dog has to recall well (that is why Bear gets put on lead in heavy traffic/high trail use area). The dog also need to be obedient to the NO command --- which Bear is much better at than he is recall! Bear only chase squirrel on command and stops when told; he has never taken off to chase an animal so I trust him to not do soon the trail.