Puppy and Traffic

Hi All,

Henry is now 15 weeks old and coming along really well with all his training. I am however having problems with him as soon as a car approaches us while we are out walking.
He goes absolutely ape. I live in the country on a very quiet lane, we see very little traffic apart from other residents and the farmers. The post van came up the lane this morning and l stopped, got Henry to heel and gave him a gentle pat while the van passed. He went mad again and this time he started yelping and crying. The van stopped at my house so we started walking towards it, all the time with me talking gently to pup. The closer we got the more confident Henry became and started wagging his tail, but once the van moved off pup started leaping about and crying again.
I obviously want to get a grip on this asap so would be most grateful for any advice.

Thanks, Jackie

Jackie,I'm no expert but it sounds like you're doing the right thing Henry is very young and as he grows so will his confidence,just take time and for you to continue what your doing in my opinion Wrong thing to do there would be to pick him up,seen that happen before Hopefully other members will be able to give you some tips but personally I think you're doing great
Hope you're o.k(( hugs))

Thanks Lacey,
I'm doing ok, still raw but Henry is helping and the walks are good for us both.
We shall be walking a lot more this weekend, hopefully he will soon get used the traffic!
Jackie x

I made the mistake with Mollie of petting her and reassuring her when she was a pup with traffic, it took my husband when she was about a year old to get her over her fear. He just took a no nonsense approach jollied her along rather than reassured her which made her I believe see the perceived threat as nothing to worry about whereas my approach made her think it was.

Not sure that makes sense but it worked for Mollie.

Must be really strange for wee puppies,all the sights and sounds they have to get used to..bless them Lacey wasn't to bad apart from the hoover Took me a while to conquer that one
Love to see a pic of Henry when you get a chance

Hello Jackie Henry needs to learn that traffic is not a threat and will not harm him.
This is something a puppy should learn as part of the socialisation process and as young as possible.

I too live on a quiet country lane but take myself and any new puppy to somewhere there is traffic that we can view at a 'safe' distance. I go armed with a toy and lots of treats, we play (on a lead) and ignore the traffic and I also give treats so that the whole thing is a pleasurable experience. I move gradually nearer the traffic taking a step back if there is any sign of fear.

Next I progress to walking some distance from the traffic always ignoring it and adopting a bright and confident attitude. As the puppy gains confidence we walk nearer to the traffic.

ETA as always this training takes time and patience, little and often is best .

Can't say better than what Meg said. ALL my dogs have been scared of traffic when they were pups. They all got used to it. Even the GSD that was driven bonkers by the sight of lorry wheels going past - can't even remember now how long it took or what we did but eventually she did stop trying to drag us under lorries!

I reckon if you got down on the pavement and saw all this traffic from their viewpoint down there - it would be pretty scary for you too the first few times at least.

Bella is now so good that I can call her to the side and she will get behind me until a car has passed us on the track (no pavement) but if it's a motorbike or any vehicle driving stupidly fast and kicking up trails of dust - I do still pick her up just in case.

They are doing major improvements round here at the mo (ongoing for 2 yrs) I've discovered Bella is not keen on earth moving machinery, diggers, steamrollers, cranes etc. Even if they are just parked up she will stop in front of them and bark at them! (Mind you I'm not keen on them either!)

Wot Meg wrote reinforced using a clicker for acceptable behaviour

This is the way I got Juno to get over his fear when he was younger. It wasn't as severe as the OP, but he would get spooked at a point where there were two walls opposite each other on a main road. I think the sound of the traffic was amplified by the walls.
I just ignored his reaction, and walked on as normal. After a few times he was grand.

Jackie .... I've been facing a similar problem with my 18 week old Shar-Pei Georgina for nearly a month.

There's only one narrow road leading in and out of the village and no pavement either only a narrow grass verge on one side of the road. To get to the fields where I walk my dogs we have to run the gauntlet of heavy farm machinery and large lorries constantly rumbling past us as we walk up the road.

The first week I took Georgie and my other dog Chloe for a walk Georgina tried to bolt every time a vehicle went by and it took lots of reassurance, praise and treats to calm her down and get her moving again. The second week went better as she no longer tried to bolt but being still frightened, she cowered and as before I gave her reassurance, praise and treats. Last week although she was far more confident each time she heard the sound of a vehicle she'd sit down and refuse to budge and it took a good half hour to do a walk that takes Chloe and me less than 10 minutes!

This week I took a different approach by putting her in a lighter harness and using longer leads for both dogs. Instead of taking both dogs for two x 20 minute walks a day I split it up into three session .... 10 minutes leash training walking up and down the drive, using Chloe as a role model ..... 15 minutes taking Georgina out for a walk on her own and another 15 minutes walking the dogs together.

We've just come back from a lovely walk ... up the road and across the fields and I'm SO happy because I think we've finally cracked it .... which for me goes to show that patience, reassurance and consistancy pay dividends in the end!