Dog walking problems – conquering fear of traffic.

We’ve got a 16 week old puppy and are having problems with her walking up the road to the park where we walk her. Its a fairly busy city road at times but when we are walking, between 6-7.30am,its much quieter.

She’ll walk better/happily along small side streets but the wider road really puts her off.She digs her heels in, turns around and sits down and won’t budge. We’ve tried all her favorite treats to coax her into walking again but these only last about 15 seconds and she does it again. We’ve had to resort to carrying her to the park, just so we can get there,but this might be counter productive in the long term we feel.

We’re going to try sitting by the roadside and watching the traffic from a distance to help build her confidence.

Anyone else have any good ideas?

When I got my first dog we thought she had a fear of everything. She was 4 months and from a really quiet area in Wales and had been walked along canals etc. She wouldn’t go through puddles, scared of road signs, as we had a road works by us at the time. Scared of traffic etc.

We walked her when it was quieter and she is great now. The thing is there will be many new things for a 16 week old puppy to get used to and to learn. Assuming you have ad her since about 8 weeks she should be getting used to you now and be getting toilet trained, also 16 weeks is really when you can start getting them out properly, give it some time, expose her to as much as you can, old people , young people, the car, water, if you don’t mind her paddling, busses, other dogs etc. But it sounds like you have a good idea by siting near the raod when it quiet. Find a good trainer, we went to an animal psychologist who trained us to work with our dog.

Lots of praise for her but don’t over do the exposure and make it a traumatic experience, just a few minutes an then a play, a little walk and home. She should get the hang of it no problem, just be patient.

Back in the day I used to help out at an animal sanctuary by taking there dogs out for runs. (Best way to befriend a dog is a combo of running and food)

Purely anecdotal but there was a few hounds scared of traffic, best way I found was to gain the dogs trust and respect. Then show it by your own behaviour that the traffic is nothing to be scared of, respected but not feared. The dog will look to you for behavioural guidance if you have set yourself up as the pack leader.

Easier than sociability problems, as cars tend to behave fairly predictably. Just my experience, I’m no professional on the matter.

Aside from that, everything Pingu just said.

As above set an example, think happy relaxed thoughts etc, also find a bench by some traffic and spend a few quarters of an hour now and then sitting watching the traffic go by. He’ll get used to it, just needs the exposure.

+ 1 for all the advice given.

In my experience, its only time that will help the pup feel more comfortable.

I’ve just got a Lab that’s an Ex cruelty case and he’s no social skills at all so he’s like every pup I’ve ever had, not toilet trained, scared of traffic etc only problem is he is 2 1/2, weighs nearly 30 kgs and has some real power, like yesterday when he pulled me over and left me with a grazed knee……. 😳

The advice above is all spot on. I would reinforce with you the importance of your attitude to a situation. The pup is gauging 2 things normally. How scary a situation is to them and how scary the pack think it is. You and your family are the pack. If you appear concerned/fretful/worried about the pups reaction to the traffic then pup will think

“the traffic scares me AND the pack – get me out of here!”

However, if you are the picture of calm and control the pup is more likely to think

” the traffic scares me but the pack seem ok with it, I’ll stick with it for now”

You being nice and calm+a view of a busy road from a safe distance+repeat little and often = route to success

Oh, By the way, we need pics!

Try getting the dog to sit at the side of the road if she/ he sits still and calm then give them a treat…after you and the dog are happy walk slow and try to distract the dog by talking to it and making a fuss. Keep stopping and fussing it until there happy…it will take time but worth doing.

Thanks for all the advice. Although she’s 16 weeks old we’ve only had her a week today. We “road tested” her for 4 days, 3 weeks ago, then she went back to the breeder as we had to travel abroad for a week. She appears worse now than she was then which worried me.

She’s learning commands incredibly fast with clicker and rewards but the road thing is the taking time.

We took her to a large open field park the other evening and that spooked her too. Took her ages to walk 20m. Anywhere wooded and she’s perfectly fine. So it could be something to do with the wide open spaces like the road.

We’ll be taking her out today with a 5 yr old Chocolate Lab and see how she gets on. Hoping she’ll learn from him.

Loads of new experiences, smells, people etc. Just take it easy and enjoy your new puppy. She will get the hang of things just fine in time.

Work on the training, don’t overdo things, little asnd often is the way to quick results and make it fun for all of you.