Krusewalker
i noticed you havent mentioned using treats during all your procedures. also, did you cuddle and/or reassure him during these times?

Krusewalker
what treats? did you rapid feed the treats?
clickers arent a good idea when the dog is nervy.
fussing him doesnt create the problem of him thinking his behavior is "good", it creates prob of you telling him he is right to be scared.
Krusewalker - are you telling me cuddling and reasuring him is right or wrong.
I normally take a selection of treats, which he likes, and I use for recall , sit, stay etc, but when he gets scared of the traffic he won`t accept anything. Just turns his head away.
I`ve not used a clicker, another poster x-clo-x mentioned that.
Am taking all this on board , and hopefully he will come around, any more ideas are very welcome please.

your treat association was right, i just think the execution was off.
start again, much slower this time.
walk to the quiet traffic area very slowly, using a harness and head collar or flat collar with a double ended lead, creating calming guided walking and just keep free feeding sausages on the way and when their.
you can scatter on the ground if it works as well

dont press the traffic thing.
go with the flow, dont think their is a problem.
just stroll it, drunk cowboy walk, get him to do interesting things on fallen trees, etc.
guide him.
chatter, natter,

His treats are choc drops, cheese,dog biscuits, I shall try some real cooked liver as well.
I tried him again last night, but as soon as we reached the road he went into a major panic and I had to turn around and bring him back.
A bystander told me I should give him a tap with a stick.

I`m going to leave going to the busy place, keep him on the quieter roads and then start again.

It`s so frustrating, I take him to an `organised` dog walk once a week in the park , where there is a river. The problem to get to the park you have to cross the road which is a dual carriageway with 4 lanes, and other junction so it is quite busy. There is a subway but it`s quite a distance from where he starts getting scared., so I have to take him in the car.

Will keep trying, and come back to you all.
Annette

yes, i think you need to go right back to quiet roads.
i think you may have pushed him too far too quickly.

for example, when you sat on the wall for 6 months watching traffic go by did you free feed him lots of nice tasty smelly meat sausages or yr cooked liver?
or no treats at all?
or just a dog biscuit when you got their?
if you did the latter two, their is no postivie association made.
and then you said you cajoled him at a later stage?

what type of equipment are you using?
this may be adding to the tension as well?

these are easily done honest mistakes, have you considered getting a porfessional person in to show you?

Thanks for your suggestions, we shall start from the beginning, I will come back.

Its sad someone misinformed you

If you think about it, what 'bad behaviour' would you be rewarding by giving your dog food when meeting traffic?

At one stage, he wasnt scared, he was just a puppy being socialised.
By giving him lots of nice treats whilst meeting traffic, you are rewarding what you were aiming for - the puppy accepting traffic.
As you you have paired traffic with food, making a positive association.

Later on, he started to become scared.
Where is the bad behaviour?
Is fear the 'bad behaviour', or is fear just fear?
Therefore, if you started the treat programme at this early fear stage you would have likey arrested the fear becoming worse by making the same positive associations.

You did mention earlier you had used treats though, some im a little bit confused.
I got the impression, from what you wrote as regards your vet's advice, that you took this approach: nervy dog, car coming, hear is 'one treat' (but not a pouch full of loads of small smelly bits of meat), take the treat.
Dog already stressed.
Animals, incl humans, cant eat when stressed.
Car gone now, here is 'one treat', take it.
Meaning the treat regime wasnt free, easy, associative.
But it may have drawn attention to the issue of scary traffic in this way?

BTW - im not assuming your vet gave you the wrong advice, it may be the case he just replied to the info you gave him, or you may have not understood where he was coming from when he said give your dog a treat when it sees a car?
As you would be with him for a medical consult and you wouldnt likely be having a big conversation about all this?

However, you should know many vets arent qualified in animal behaviour, they do not cover this topic when they take their degree.

In your area, where have your researched to find professional support?

you can try a harness and normal collar for calming guided walking

Your puppy is having difficulty ajusting from the sounds and sensations of a pieceful rural village environment to the overwhelming heavy traffic on a busy dual carriageway. Apart from the number and noise of the traffic he will be able to feel the vibrations of approaching traffic and this in itself will frighten him especially when they approach and pass from behind.Take things slowly but try to condition him by going to the road as often as you can even if is only for a short walk along the roadside and build up the length you spend near the road gradually.To begin with only walk him along the roadside facing inthe direction of oncoming traffic if that is possible as he is more likely to be afraid of the traffic he can not see behind him.Good luck.

that is a great post, especially the bit about letting the dog see the oncoming traffic and the issue around vibrations.
dogs scared of traffic will also be affected by slipstream.

but he has an inbuilt fear of traffic now, so carrying on using busy roads/dual carriagesway will just be more of the same.

the dog needs some relief from the fear now by starting again from scratch in quiet roads first.

Have you had professional help to correctly identify the cause of your dog's behaviour?

Sometimes what we THINK is the issue, is not.

Eg it with traffic issues there are several possibilities:

movement (wheels)
sound (brakes, engines, in sound sensitive dogs)
low frequencies (heavy lorries etc going over certain surfaces)
Rush of wind (as large vehicles go past)
Smell (vehicles are very smelly)
Affect on breathing (fumes)

So it may help to keep a diary and collate places, times, routes, etc

If your comment is an aknowledgement of my post then thank you for your generous praise.--I hope there may be something helpful in it.--I have to a lesser degree some experience of fear walking near a dual-carrigeway on a regular basis and in my case it is from large goods vehicles approaching from behind--As soon as Ruby becomes aware of a heavy vehicle approach from behind she stops spins round to face the vehicle and doesn't want to walk on until it has passed her.She is then happy to walk on.It isn't a big problem as her fear is only of very heavy goods vehicle approaching from behind.She reacts in good time before they reach us which makes me believe she feels strong vibrations created by the weight of the vehicle and that may have a lot to do with it.