Running away

Question
My family and I recently adopted a 2-3 year old white Boxer with black spots from a local animal shelter. She is friendly, playful, god with the kids, protective of the house, and gets along with our cat and older Lab (though she does chase the cat!). The problem is, we have had her for (3) weeks and she has run away (3) times. We caught her each time (after an exhaustive 1-mile sprint), but she refuses to stop when called. We tried to be careful, but she seems to "lay in wait" for a door to open even a crack and then she charges out. Do Boxers run away frequently? Is this common? How can we stop it and why might it be happening? She also seems to have a fear of going outside at night...even though we are with her and she is on a leash. When we get her near the door she freezes, and sometimes we almost have to force her out the door. Any ideas. One minute she wants to escape...the next she is afraid to go out. Thanks.

Answer
Since she's from a shelter, you really have no idea about her past, so there's no telling why she seems to be afraid to go outside at night; however you do need to respect that and work on changing her response.  Get some super-yummy treats like liver, baked chicken sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, liverwurst or braunschweiger, spray cheese, etc. - something that she really goes nuts for - and as soon as she even sticks her nose out, treat like crazy.  Coax her all the way out, treating the whole way, and then jackpot (a bunch of treats fed rapid-fire) once she's all the way out.  When she's comfortable going in and out without as much coaxing, you can start placing 'jackpot piles' around the yard - at first right outside the door, and then farther away, etc., so that she's rewarded for going out in the yard and will start to associate "outside at night" with "Good Things for Dogs".  You can even eventually start hiding the piles, if you'd like, to teach her the "Find It" game.  (Be sure to pick up the piles she doesn't find, though, as they may attract critters like raccoons and possums.)

The bolting out the door is simply a matter of training and management.  There's a good article on teaching "Wait" at doorways here:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2001/doorways.htm

Until she's learned that well, you'll need to manage the situation so she doesn't have the opportunity to bolt.  The easiest way is to block her access to the door - a baby gate or ex-pen can work, if she's not a jumper.  You might also need to keep a collar and short leash on her (they make 1-foot and "tab" leashes) while you're home with her, so that someone can grab her leash before the door is opened.  (Be very careful with this, collars are a high choking risk; you need to be able to supervise her closely while she's wearing it.  If she and the Lab play-wrestle, I'd leave the collar off - it's far too easy for a jaw to get caught, and many dogs have been lost to this tragic accident.)  The key is to set her up for success - teach her what you want her to do, praise and treat lavishly when she does it, and manage the situation so that while she's learning, she doesn't have the opportunity to make a mistake.  

If she does get out, don't chase her - that's a game Boxers love to play.  Instead, get her attention and then run *away* from her.  Maybe fall on the ground and roll around yelling and giggling - many Boxers can't resist this, and will run right over to join in the fun.  (If she does, keep right on playing with her for a bit - this will reinforce her returning to you.)  You should also be working on her recall so that she will come to you when you call her.  A couple of good articles on that:
http://www.clickersolutions.com/articles/2002/recall.htm
http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/Lesson6.html
http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/archives/roadkill.txt

It may take a little time and patience - you don't know what she's learned in her previous home - but Boxers are smart dogs.  She'll figure out what you want, and once she realizes that it pays better to do what you want than what you don't, what you want becomes what she wants. :)  

Good luck!!