Boss would roam away a bit, but this was later in his life after we kind of built a connection where I'd be confident in knowing he'd come back and knowing he wouldn't do anything stupid. It's hard to explain but we just got really good at reading eachother and knowing what the other wanted and expected and etc. Like just as a funny example I would never worry about carrying doggie bags to pick up his crap because he knew not to do it anywhere inappropriate, and I knew he'd want to go shortly after leaving the house so both of us would quickly go down into the bush away from prying eyes and he'd unload multiple turds like clockwork and then we'd be right to go anywhere confident he wouldn't need to crap in front of anyone or on someone's footpath or whatever. There were a billion little things like that, and his roaming was the same, like yes he would chase the deer, and sometimes far for a good while, but I knew he wouldn't go on roads or out in the open in people's yards or anything, he'd stick in the vacant scrub or floodplains and he'd return within a reasonable amount of time to where I'd be waiting. Same deal with him searching down the creek lines for water dragons, he'd disappear up the creek and I'd wander basically a long side it and hear him splashing off in the distance, then I might need to cut an inaccessible part or whatever while he kept sloshing up the creek, but he'd know to always pop out right at the right spot to have his lead clipped on right before stuff started getting too civilised and busy with people and families ( who probably don't want to see a big loose wet neo cross running at their children).

Bones is learning I think, and one day I expect to have this same understanding between us that me and boss had. But I need to remember he's not there yet and the other night was a reminder. But yes like I said I did know for sure he would return to where I was waiting. It's not control, I'm honestly a terrible dog trainer, I just build a relationship with a dog where they learn to understand what I expect from them, honestly almost feels like we share a brain once it's all running smoothly. They're not trained but rather raised to know "right from wrong" (or my idea of it).

I saw it done wrong when I was a kid which I think helped. The mongrel pig dog we had when I was a kid was the kind of dog that would just take off over the horizon and be gone if let off lead. And even if not let off he might break his way off or slip out or chew his way out, lol. Would break chains, dig holes under the fence and etc etc to get free to roam, and then he'd just be gone on an adventure and my mum might find him wandering around near the airport on the other side of town 3 days later. He was a wild independent dog, and I think he was that way because he was never given any trust nor developed any sort of connection with my mean old fashioned dad. So he just became his own dog. My dogs grow into being my dog, or "partner in crime", more and more as they get older. The bond strengthens and communication (99.999% body language) becomes more and more clear and neither of us are independent in the end, we're a duo that understand eachother and work together.

That's how I like my dog "ownership" to go, but yeah it's not all smooth sailing from the start.