Now my dog is mostly off the leash when I walk with her (I live in an apartment on the outskirts of Warsaw, Poland, but we have a lot of open space around and a big forest 25 minutes walk away and an old Tsarist era fort nearby with mounds and hillocks ) and she's at my heels when I tell her to be, even when crossing a road or when she sees other dogs around and she knows when I say "go", she's free to run off and play
the beauty is, that she obeys other people as well, so we have no problem with leaving her with other folks when we have to go for a holiday.
Perhaps it's also doggie temperament I guess
What a wonderful story.
It must be beautiful there.
:)