My first thought is to not let her off leash until she is 100% trustworthy. It is just not worth the risk. You're absolutely right - one day, she is going to end up gettin hurt. My dog Leo is pretty good off leash, but one squirrel and he would be off like a light.

That being said - if she does get off leash, the best way to get her back is to run away from her clapping your hands saying "come" "come" "come" and then when she does come to you PRAISE PRAISE PRAISE. The mistake a lot of people make is to correct the dog when they finally return. That teaches the dog that coming back to you is the wrong thing to do. Running away from her makes it a great game - running towards her will send her running more ahead of you.

When I was training Leo off leash, I started with a 100ft leash attached but loose. I would let him get about 20 feet from me, then I would turn in the opposite direction clapping my hands saying come, come, come. When he came back to me I would praise him and give him a treat. We would work on that everyday for about a week - then I would let him get 50ft away and do it again. I gradually increased the distance and got another 100 ft leash to let him go even further. Eventually I did it without the leash when I felt he was pretty close to being 100% reliable. But (and this is a big but) I only let him off leash in an area that was completely closed.

Even now that I trust Leo to come back to me - I never let him off leash in an area where he could run off. It is just not worth the risk to me.

Now I have another dog Penny Lane that would not stray more than 2 feet from me at any time. She was adopted about 8 months ago from a city shelter. She is a very nervous dog - even to the point that she is still on Prozac to help lesson her anxiety. I had a behaviorist come to my house and help us with a behavior modification program.

I would suggest contacting a behaviorist/trainer to access her behavior and help with her anxiety levels.