I moved to Indiana when the "pups" were 12 weeks old. I had 2 adults (Mom and another ESS) plus the 2 pups. One day I took the pups for a walk in the woods and they weren't listening very well to me telling them to stay close. So, when they took off I just let them go. I kept them in sight so they couldn't get in much trouble, but I was very careful to keep at least one large tree between them and me. After a while I can see from their body language they both thought "Uh oh, where did the dude with 2 legs go?" They started searching and I started hiding. This went on for about 10 minutes then I let them find me, and then I didn't pay much attention to them. They stuck like glue the rest of the walk. The Male 12 years later still comes back and checks in every 5 minutes or less when he's back by the pond and I'm out of sight near the house. He'll just stand there looking at me and when I tell him O.K. Back with a hand signal towards the pond he's off and running to the water. That's the reason why I need to get a pup this Summer. There is so much it'll learn from the Male that training will go SO much easier.
