Walking off-leash, by my side in the heel position (רגלי) was a great joy for Sharav.
I don’t believe that he had a sense of being privileged relative to other dogs in that regard, but it pleased him very much to follow my lead, and he cherished the constant attention from me, since walking that way requires a genuine partnership with a high level of trust.
Training it wasn’t easy, but most of the difficulty was in my conceptual grasp of how a dog responds to different types of commands. Once I nailed my part, Sharav was 100% ready for his, and of course, doing it over and over and over and over again, every day for years and years, constantly reinforced the training.
Sitting on a sidewalk grate. New York, November 2019. Click any photo to see more.