I live in a rather rural area (surrounded by woods, farms, and farm animals) and i've been trying to take blu out on the road for his walks to sort of give him some positive reinforcement about walking on roads instead of spending his walks on the grass eatting every leaf he comes across.

but as soon as we get to the drive way (it's gravel) he freaks out, and it takes about 15 minuets to get him to step out on the gravel (useing treats and positive reinforcement) and when we finally get going and we get down the drive way he's fine on the road until a car drives by. once he see's a car he get's scared and stressed and starts crying and goes inbetween my legs and starts jumping for me to pick him up.

it's cute and everything now but once he's older i was wanting to take him roller bladeing in the near by town (lots of long roads to run down and there's a boardwalk to run down and a beach he can go play on all year except in the summer time... i also saw this as a good place to socialize him a little more too, lots of people walking their dogs around there) but since he acts this way around moving cars that kind of makes it difficult. i dont want to force him to do anything he doesnt want to but... this will make exercising him rather difficult.

anyone have any suggestions to help me work with him to get over this fear?

Ripley developed a a fear of flat bed trucks while in our care.

She didn't seem to have it when we first got her, but over time she seemed to have developed it. It was more the noise they made and started happening around the time her hearing was returning.

It would either cause her to flee, or in rare occasions try and run after the truck.

I walk past a highway everyday when I go pick Kelly up from the train station. Trucks were always going to be there and I'm not the type to avoid an issue... The chance that she got scared and slipped her collar or broke free was too much for me to let this go. There is also the fact I could never reliably avoid trucks... they would always be one that found us somehow I'm sure... added on the fact that there is a big rig service center just down the street from us... Well it just wasn't going to happen.

So All I did was sit with her. I sat on the side of the road, out of harms way, for 30 minutes a day with her.

When she tried to chase or run I gave her a correction and asked her to sit.

When one passed and she ignored it I praised, or rewarded, or hugged her. I tried never to touch her or praise her when she was scared nervous... Those were not frames of mind I was looking to reward or reinforce.

I used my words and my body language to try and reinforce that everything was going to be ok and I wouldn't let anything happen to her if she trusted me. We waited and waited day in and day out and I just spoke to her about how strong she was.

Kelly would meet me on the side of the road and we would just sit there until we felt she had enough for the day or was relaxing. Small steps.


It took about 3 weeks and now she ignores them again once more, for the most part. We had 4 in a row pass us last night and she jumped a bit, but we stopped and sat and just waited and se calmed down right away.



It is all about time and developing that trust. Especially at an early age. Take it slow, don't overtax them and shut them down. Baby steps and positive reinforcement are the ways I deal with fear based behaviors.


Hope it helps in some way,
~Chris~

Thank you chris, that helps i'll try doing that. blu hasn't tried to chase cars yet, he just hides behind me when one passes and starts crying.

infact just got back from takeing him from a run, which was pretty hard because everytime a car drove by he hid behind me, or curled up on my feet and layed there. i think i have a better idea of what to do now though to slowly help him get over this fear.

If he's only 11 weeks old, you really shouldn't be taking him for runs at all yet. It could really damage his growing joints. Running around the yard is fine, but structured runs, especially on pavement are really hard on them at that age. Wait til he's around a year before doing that.

That being said, short walks are fine. Ghost was terrified of cars initially, and we just slowly desensitized her with treats and praise while we were walking. We also had her sit just off the road any time a car passed, and that's something we enforce to this day. Keep up what you're doing with short walks, no more than 5 minutes for every month of age, and he'll start getting more used to cars. Good luck!

thanks, i dont taken him for any structured long walks yet. the run we did today was maybe a 16th of a mile, if that. just go down to the ice cream parlor parking lot (which is about 3 houses down from me) and then back home.

there's a little walking trail around here i was thinking of taking him on, however it's 2 miles long so maybe i'll wait a few months like you said for something that long.

*update* - i've been practiceing this with him over the past couple of days and in different locations (parking lots, parks, friends houses, and infront of the house) which has helped him get over it somewhat. i've gotten him to the point of going on the road... however he's still afraid of other cars and trucks, especially loud semi trucks and motorcycles. but he's getting there... and im quite happy and proud of his quick progress and willingness to trust me rather easily.