SB or Others - Info on Solicialising Dogs with Traffic / Traffic Nervous Dogs

Hello, Just wondered if there was any general info about I could copy and paste to a friend on another site - she is having trouble socialising her Pyre Mountain Pup with traffic, shes nevous / scared and getting worse....

Thanks for reading!

Ahhhhhhhh, stockguard breeds, lovely dogs. How old is the pup as it mught be her age? Especially if she is around 4 months, as they can be really unsure at that age.

General help would just be to start socialising her more. Eg, walking her along roads without so much traffic and moving up when she has confidence. Clicker training is great here. Get her accustumed to the clicker in the house, and train a few easy things ith it (Watch is good, touching the end of a target stick) and then when you are on the road click when she is relaxed or looks at you. If she's intrested in clicker training thisis a great site http://www.clickersolutions.com/ . If she is younger then just keep on taking her places, meeting people, it will pass with time if you socialise (I know it doesn't seem like it but it will )

Good Luck!! And as with any stockguard breed you have to socialise more than normal!!

As GL says, it can be very much to do with her age.

What's your friend's current reaction when the puppy shows nervousness? If she's trying to calm her, reassure her etc she could well be making the matter worse. Puppies take their cues from us, and although we might think we're reassuring them as we would a child, in the puppy's mind we're actually confirming that they had something to be worried about in the first place.

As GL says, a hell of a lot of socialisation is required, and clicker training may well help. Your friend should also make sure she doesn't try to reassure the puppy, but that she keeps her voice light-hearted and confident, and that her body language doesn't reinforce the puppy's fears by rushing to her or bending down to fuss her when she's nervous. Try distracting the puppy with a treat when traffic goes past, be calm and show the puppy that the traffic's totally normal.

If she's going through a fear period, your friend's actions are very important.

Hope some of this makes sense.

Becs

Hi Cooper, you friend needs to get the dog desensitised/ used to traffic ..do this by observing the traffic from a distance until it learns there is nothing to fear.

First select a place where there is a little traffic but not too close by, it needs of course to be visible but quite some yards away, then sit there with the dog and watch the traffic. Take a favourite toy and some treats , do not respond with a sympathetic tone if the dog is scared..instead use a bright confident tone..play with the toy and use it to get the dogs attention...if the dog ignores the traffic reward with a treat and lots of praise .This need to be done as often as possible for short periods. When the dog is more confident move a little nearer and repeat until the dog gains confidence.
This article by SB applies mainly to dogs who are nervious with people but it may help to read it..perhaps print it off for your friend

I cannot add to what Mini has advised. It is exactly how I would go about desensitizing.

The article to which she has provided a link can certainly be adapted to help. The main thing is to recognize the dog's comfort zone, proceed very slowly, reward calm acceptance of traffic, do not reassure but keep a carefree voice, be prepared to go back at any stage, and be very, very, patient.

SB

Thanks everyone, thats really helped... I will let her know
The dog is about 5 months so that would make sense!

I trained Loki in the way Mini has mentioned and it worked very well. We stood around by roads (on the lead) and when traffic passed by I got his attention by holding a treat, said, "leave" and rewarded good behaviour with a treat.

He still has his moments (I must chase and hound everything with an engine) but we are at a stage where I can get his attention, now without treats, and tell him to, "leave", and he will. Now I just reward with fuss and/or treat.

At one point during his training we sat in a bus stop by the road.

Good luck.