[drawlins27]

My boys always stay by my side as well without a leash but I've trained them to do this since they were young.

One thing that I found helpful was that I would take them for a walk in the field (this is way out in the country on my families land so I could safely take them for a walk without a leash) and if they got too far ahead of me, I would silently stop and start walking in the opposite direction. It wouldn't take very long for them to realize that I wasn't with them anymore and they would always run back to catch up with me. This taught them to always stay within a set distance from me.

Now, while this behavior is really great, I do put them on a leash when we go for a walk in my neighborhood or go out in public because I am afraid that another dog may attack them.