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Subject: Runaway stafford Author: Kim [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 04:07:55 02/04/03 Tue Hi, My first suggestion is that you follow the advice of the others and keep your girl inside...it's a much safer option. However, if you feel that your garden is the best place for her, then I think that you will have to spend some time making the garden a pleasant place for her to spend time again. It sounds to me as though she has generalized her fear of some external stimulus in her enviroment (eg fireworks, thunder storm, etc.) to the actual environment in which it occured (your garden). So to her, because something scary happened in the garden, then the garden must not be a very safe place to be. And, she has now become so anxious in the garden anticipating something negative to occur, that she will do anything in her power to get away from it. I hope I've phrased that properly and it makes sense to you?!! Personally, what I would do is to make arrangements for her to be in the house while you are away at work, at least until you can recondition her. When you get home from work, spend time with her in the garden doing things that she really loves...eg. feed her her supper outside, throw a ball for her, do some light training with food or toys or games as rewards. Once she becomes happier in the garden, start leaving her out on her own for short periods of time. Eg, feed her outside and watch her from the window. When she is done, bring her back in. Then, gradually increase the increments of time that she spends on her own out there. You could even hide a bunch of doggie treats and teach her to sniff them out, or give her an activity ball and leave her alone until she empties it. What I would not do in your circumstance is to make the garden completely escape proof and continue to leave her outside. You may contain her, but you will end up with a chronically stressed out little dog. And, there is a good chance that she will become increasingly noise sensitive to the point where she is anxious all the time, in many different environments. Try not to get discouraged...this is a resovable problem if you nip it in the bud early! Good luck! Kim, "Gus" & "Kelly" Ontario, Canada [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]