running away & toys

Question
Hi, I have two questions.  The first is that our 2 year old golden is taking off whenever the door opens to go outside.  Sometimes when we say stay and put our hands infront of her face like "stop" she will, but other times she just runs out, especially when my 3 year old opens the door.  We are her 2nd owner and have had her for 2 months.  She was in an apt before so she has been crate trained and lease trained (for potty too), which has been nice for us as our fence isn't in yet.  What is the best way to train her to stay in the yard?  I'd love to let her out to play in the snow with the kids as she loves it, but she would take off.  

My other is, she loves to chew, she has the hard bone (sorry can't remember the name) and rawhide, but she loves sqeaky soft toys, the problem is that she kills the squeaker and tears up the toy within a day.  Is there one out there that is more durable or do you have other suggestions?  She does have a couple of tennis balls, but we can't use them outside, she takes off.

Answer
Most of what I know about dogs, I have learned while part of a program that forbids letting a dog run loose other than in a fenced area.  In general, I think there are some dogs that are good about sticking around and others it is not their nature.  I know of no way of dealing with such.  If trained to obey you, you might have better luck at the door.  

"Come" needs to be taught as part of proper pack status and obedience.  The
dogs see all the people and dogs in the household as a pack with each having their own rank in the pack and a top dog.  Life is much easier if the 2 legged pack members outrank the 4 legged ones.  You can learn to play the role of top dog by reading some books or going to a good obedience class.  Start at
http://www.dogsbestfriend.com/  For more on being top dog, see http://www.dogbreedinfo.com./topdogrules.htm  Follow their link to their page on children and dogs.  With somebody the right age in the family, 4-H dog training is a great idea. In my area, clubs form soon after the first of the year.  Even many urban areas have 4-H.  For info look in your phone book under government listings
for extension or cooperative extension offices.  Ask specifically about a dog
or canine club.

If you dog is at least 4 - 5 months old, start with a good 6' leather leash and
a sturdy slip collar, the metal chain ones with the rings on each end. You want the shortest one that will go on and off easily. If you walk with the dog on the left, pull the chain through one loop forming a "P". Facing it, slip it over its head. The free end should come over the neck to the leash, and the other end should drop slack when there is no pull on the leash.  Before 4 months use a conventional flat collar to protect the tender young neck.

With the dog at the end of the leash, call its name and "Come" in a firm
voice. If it comes, praise it lavishly and pet it. If it doesn't come, repeat
the command and give the leash a light snap. Keep it up with firmer leash snaps
until the dog does come. Do not forget the praise.  Then switch to a longer
leash or rope, about 25'.  When it comes well on the longer leash, you should
be able to go to off leash in a fenced area, etc. Once the dog is doing well, introduce come, treat. This is for emergencies only when the dog has gotten loose accidentally. Use it routinely and you will have nothing to fall back on when your dog is headed for a busy street. "Name, come treat!" is little different from the regular "Name, come!", except the dog gets a great treat when it comes. We are talking a hot dog, cheese, etc. much better than any treat you use routinely.

Relying on come to control most dogs loose outside is risky, and I do not
recommend it.  Dogs are individuals.  Some can be trained to come when you have
no way to enforce it, but some will never be completely reliable even for the
most experienced trainers.

The pet stores are full of toys that many dogs will quickly chew up into
pieces they could choke on or cause intestinal blockages.  If you are not
there to watch, stick to sturdy stuff such as Nylabones and Kongs.  Keep a
close eye on chew toys and quickly discard anything that is coming apart in
pieces.  Rawhide is especially bad because it swells after being swallowed.
I don't trust any of the consumable chews.  The dogs just gnaw them down to a
dangerous size too quickly.  These problems are the worst with, but not
limited to, large, aggressive chewers such as Labs.

I am amazed at how well tennis balls hold up to dogs that will kill squeaky toys in minutes.  Sometimes when a dog starts to ''skin'' one, I will pull the rest off and the ball lives on naked.