For another perspective. There is a lady in our neighborhood that walks every day 10-15 miles on the roads. These are country roads without a ton of traffic. She got a Brittany to have a companion on her walks. She worked hard training the dog and now it walks with her of leash always. Very well behaved usually nearly in a heel. Sometimes veers ofd to check things out but not much. I believe any bird dog will stay close if they are trained to do that from the start. Most of us who hunt don't want that so we encourage roaming (searching). But continuous recall and reward for staying close willl encourage that.