Me too!

You need to keep him under threshold, work towards the object of his fear, but never let him cross that line. Clicker's work great in this instance.

how would i use a clicker in this instance? i trained my first dog with basic commands using a clicker.. but have never used one when fear is involved..

Look at that game

Walk towards a busy road, from a quiet area, like a park. start from way back from where his fear will trigger. when he looks at the cars, click, then treat when he looks back at you. take a step forward, then repeat. You can learn your dog's threshold by playing this game, when he doesn't respond, you know you went too far, and you need to back up a step or 2.

Here's a video of a dog aggressive dog playing the "game"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuV3MOvvyr4

thanks for that i havent done any clicker training with my boy, so im going to do some now, just getting him used to the noise and the treat reward. thank you

ive done a bit of work with him, but admittedly not alot, as ive had so much going on!

he now knows the sound of the clicker means a treat (he wasnt clicker trained at all so ive had to start from the beginning)

we have also started doing it in the house, where he looks away at something, i click, he looks back at me

providing the weather picks up in a bit, im going to practice it outside with him, maybe just in the garden at first, before building up to take him near the road.

Right on. Does he look when cars go by, when in the yard? If he does, you can condition a happy response to the noise, while he's in a safe, comfortable zone. He'll learn that the sound and a look mean yummies, and praise... no reason to fear. Then it should be a bit quicker once you get him out and about.

Good luck!

you cant really hear the cars from the garden, unless theyre driving onto the estate. but if i go halfway up the estate he will be able to hear them but not see them. so im going to try that today i think, just waiting for the weather to pick up, because hes a grump in the rain.

Good idea! I dont imagine it'll take very long for him to get over his fear, once conditioned happily to the noise

Is there any area, preferably with a bench so you can get comfy, where you can sit in sight of a road, but far enough away for your dog not to react (outdoor area of pub or cafe even better )?

If so, take him there, sit yourself down, talk to your boy, play with him, give him yummy treats. Next time, sit again, but get up and take a step maybe 2 nearer the scary road. Keep playing/talking etc then go sit back down. Build it up so that you are working him in closer and closer to the road and then walking along it. Some dogs work through the process very quickly, others take a little longer - dependent on how deep seated the 'fear' is.

If at any time you get a reaction to a car - you've moved on too quickly so take it back a couple of stages

It can also help, if your boy is toy orientated, to let him carry a toy on his walk. It can often relieve the stress for a 'nervy' dog.

I always suggest people work in Car parks initially.

Often on roads you get fast and or loud cars which add to the fear. Car parks have slow moving and stationary cars.

The fear of traffic can quickly lead to traffic chasing - so I would advise you to get in as much work as possible before the fear develops more.

Good luck.