behaviour problems

Question
My boyfriend has had a female ridgeback for about 9 years since she was a
puppy.  He also has an 8 year old male staffy. I moved into the house about 2
years ago. The ridgeback is the dominant of the two and seems to be much
smarter than the staffy, but they are inseparable. They have always been
outside dogs. Recently we have started having two problems with her. I am
not sure if they are related. In the past during fireworks and thunder she has
gotten very scared and has run away seemingly to get to a safer place.  We
now have higher fences, but she manages to get over them anyway, by
literally climbing multiple fences to get out of the yard. This has started
happening both day and night and seemingly for no reason.  The other
problem is that she has worked out how to open the back door and get inside
the house.  We have tried asking her not to, yelling, smacking, timeout,
ignoring her for hours after she's been naughty, and when caught always
have  put her straight out (however sometimes happens when we are not
home). But she doesn't even notice, even seems to like getting the attention.
(although she gets lots more attention when she's not naughty).  it's mid fall,
so it's not like it's cold. I can't work out why all of a sudden she wants to be
inside or why she would run away. She is still very loving when she's not
being naughty and i can't think of any other changes to the household. Can
you help explain and offer some tips?  

Answer
Before posting this question to me, did you bother to read my statement about my being A STRONG ADVOCATE for the domestic dog???? Given the description you offer of your reactions to your dog's desperate anxiety, did you expect A STRONG ADVOCATE FOR THE DOMESTIC DOG to empathize with you and offer further punishing behaviors you could use to extinguish the dog's FEAR and ANXIETY?  Is it possible that you would seriously pose such a question to someone who has spent a LIFETIME cleaning up the mess in the lives of HUNDREDS of dogs created by stupid, uncaring, unthinking, uneducated, sub-human behavior offered by a species (your own) that touts itself as the penultimate creation on this planet?

This can't be a serious question.  For many reasons.

One: You're telling me that you confine OUTDOORS two dogs that are not intended to live outdoors in winter weather; the Ridgeback originated in Africa: it's never cold there, they're not designed to survive cold weather outdoors; the AmStaff is a short haired breed clearly not able to survive cold weather outdoors.

Two:  You're telling me that your Ridgeback has acquired a severe fear response to something outdoors BUT SHE IS FORCED TO ENDURE IT because you (for whatever reason, and let's not even go there) will NOT let her INSIDE;

Three:  You're telling me that you yell at her, SMACK her, give her "timeout" (and GOD ONLY KNOWS what that means) and ignore her for hours because SHE'S AFRAID AND WANTS TO BE INSIDE.

If this question is serious (and not a setup by someone who needs a reason to leave very bad feedback): your response to her behavior is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE AND INHUMANE.  Your dogs should be removed by the Humane Society IMMEDIATELY.