dogs and traffic

[davidardill]

I have a 14-week old Whippet puppy and having completed his course of vaccinations is able to go out in public. What is the best way to handle the issue of traffic? He gets very frightened, understandably, when any vehicle goes past and tries to run back to the house. Should I persevere and reassure him or take it more slowly and keep him away - or at a distance - from traffic for a while?

[Tammera]

ive never had this issue, but if it was me, id find a bench or something beside a small roads and spend some time with him beside you or on your lap stroking him and cuddleing him to give him reassureance. after a few times of doing that if he seems a tad more confident, take him to a busier road and sit with him and cuddle him. after a while he will know hes in safe hands im sure of it. from what ive seen of whippets, they are very nevous inclined anyhow, im sure the key would be time and reassurance.

[wooo12]

Be carful not to comfort him too much, i found when comforting them it can sometimes give off the signal that it is something he should be afraid of.

[orange-gnome]

Hi, I have always found with dogs that are nervous of traffic that it's not a good thing to make a fuss of them by the roads, sorry Tammera, but generally they seem to think that they are getting attention for panicking or for being nervous and so it can get much worse before it gets better. After all we have no way of explaining to them what the attention and cuddling is for! They just see that they panic = attention.
I find the best thing to do is to get them used to it slowly, walk them around very quiet roads but don't make a fuss, act as if it is the most normal thing in the world, the dog will pick up on your attitude and follow your lead. If the dog panicks or looks incredibly nervous, don't pick him up but just talk to him calmly and gently telling him it's ok. Then give him lots of praise once you get home.
Definitely the key is time and reassurance as Tammera says but don't make too much of a big deal out of it. Do it slowly just a few minutes every day gradually building up the degree of traffic. Mostly be confident yourself and he will soon get the idea that there is nothing to worry about.
Depending on how bad he is around traffic you could even start with walking him past your car while it is parked somewhere with the engine on but not moving so he gets used to the noise without the speeding movement.
You are the pack leader and the puppy will follow your example, so don't be anxious about his reaction, they can read our emotions better than you know!

Let us know how you get on : )

[orange-gnome]

hehe wooo got in there whilst I was typing : ) Well said!!

[drgnrdr]

Okay here it goes, Get at a quiet street, if you can get someone to help you by driving a car then do so, start at a very far distance from the road and passing car, have some really great treats with you, as the car approaches, treat him and say in a happy tone, hey look a car, or whatever you'd like to say, dogs don't know english they go by your tone, if it's happy and excited and not nervous or soothing then he'll think your okay with the approaching car, every few seconds get his attention on you by happy talk and treats, get them in his mouth, when the car goes away stop treating, he has to associate the car with good things, treats help alot. As he becomes more comfortable with it at the distance you started at, go closer, and work at that distance until he becomes non chalant about the car moving, but the minute he becomes scared and tries to run , then back up to the distance he was comfortabe with, you may have gone to close to soon. Keep doing this, try not to do it all in one day, it may take a few days or a week to do this, it's up to the dog how quickly he progresses. Use small soft moist bite size treats, ones he can take in and swallow and look at you quickly for the next one. This is called desensitizing, and we counter condition him to associate treats with the car.

Puppies go thru an adolescent shy period around 16 weeks if they had little or no socialization, to dogs, people, things, sounds, smells then they are ignorant of what they don't know. A well socialized dog will maybe react to a new sound or such but they recover quickly, and they don't freak out about new stuff. Get to a pos. reinforce. class it will help him become more confident and more confidence in you as a leader.

[drgnrdr]

This is all on leash of course, I forgot to mention, I assumed you knew this. Which was wrong, we should never assume.. Now go practice and find a tastey treat he likes.