When I first got Jesse he was deathly afraid of traffic. Only moving. Not parked. He would stand in one spot no matter how much I coaxed him, and would shake uncontrollably.
It's important to find a balance when dealing with a fear. You don't want to make it worse. Do not, under any circumstances, baby the dog! No cooing, no whiny-voice. You do not want to teach him that he is right to be afraid.
What I did with Jesse was simply take a step back. We started off in the park where there were no cars around. The more confidant he became, the closer we went to traffic. If he would freeze up, I would simply sit down and let him hang out until he got distracted or bored and started sniffing and walking around again.
Slowly we worked our way up to side streets.
Now, he still doesn't love busy main roads. He does amazing on smaller streets, though. Garbage trucks still frighten him for some reason, though. |