i'd say alex is about 70% reliable. he's only off leadwhen 1- we're at the park, about 1/2 mile from any roads, 2- no one else is around 3-when i unsnap him i show him his recall cookie. he'd been off lead once at the lake michigan shore in early april, he had a blast, ran, rolled in dead fish, chased gulls the best of everything for a dog, i figured we were safe, the lake on the west and a 2 mile hike to the road, and the human with a pocket full of cookies. never otherwise.