How can I train my rottie not to be scared of traffic?

Question

I've got a 9 month old rottie who is absolutely terrified of lorries and buses, not good when you live on a main road! Can anyone help me to stop him being frightened or at least not try and pull me into the road to get away from them. It is the only problem I have with him, he walks to heel off the road, comes back when called and goes happily back on his lead. By the way, no mention of sticks, hitting or electric collars please! I would no more dream of hurting my dog than sleeping with John Prescott, urggh we'll cancel that last thought shall we?

Answer 1

Ah, I love rotties! They're so beautiful and affectionate! I know what you're up against- my boy is like that with motorbikes and scooters. We're working on it.

My advice is the 'softly-softly' approach. It takes time but works much better than any kind of drug treatment or shock tactics. I suggest the following;

1. When your dog is afraid, he will look to you for his lead. Unwittingly, we often perpetuate our dog's behaviour by tensing up ourselves when we see something we know our dog will be afraid of. Try and talk, walk and act as normal- do not show the dog your tension. Use calming signals; yawning, blinking, and sidewards glances toward your dog. If you blink at him without making direct eye contact, he should blink back. He may even yawn when you do! Also, rather than cuddling them when they react with fear, try laughing, putting on your 'baby' voice, and act like you're about to play a really fun game. If he sees something he fears, and sees you mucking around and laughing, you are showing him that there is nothing to fear.

2. Acclimatise to the situation slowly. This is difficult when you have a stimulus, ie traffic, that is completely out of your control. Try and record or download or buy some loud traffic noise, and play it in the house for a few minutes each day. Start with the volume very, very low (remember his hearing is better than yours!) and week by week, increase the volume. If you do it very slowly, he will become accustomed to thie noise, and will ignore it.

3. Associate the stimulus with something pleasant. Keep a handful of treats. Something REALLY special, like smoked sausage or pate, or dried liver. It has to be something the dog would never normally get. Whenever a truck goes by, give him some. At first, like my dog, his fear might be so strong that he is unable to eat. But if you start slowly, like down a side road where you can hear the traffic but it is still far away, he'll get the idea. Only use this treat for traffic, and instead of focussing on the fear aspect of the lorries, he will start looking at you when one goes past, as if to say, 'and where's the foie gras?'

4. Never force the dog to face his fear. This is likely to backfire. When we encounter a motorbike, I tend to carry on without reacting, giving calming signals. The dog simply follows my lead. If I see one parked up, we make an arc round it, so that my dog can see it from all angles without having to get close. He can see it is not a threat.

I have been working with my dog using these methods for about four months now, and the fear is almost gone. He still visibly flinches if one revs up close to us but it is nothing like as bad as it was. It's a difficult thing to do because effectively you are trying to replace a powerful bad image in his mind with a good one, without being able to talk to him about it! But it should work. Rotties are clever dogs, and he'll soon realise that lorrie=good. I wish you every success with your boy.

Answer 2

The technique is called 'desensitising'. It involves exposing your rottie to the absolute minimum of the scary thing; so that he's not at all bothered and you get no reaction. Then you very gradually get him used to a bigger dose of it.
If at any point you get a fear reaction from him you've gone too far too fast.
Eventually he'll be able to happily walk along the pavement.

I agree that you need to deal with this; even at 9 months old he's a big and powerful dog and his reaction is unsafe. If he runs off in a blind panic he could get run over.
The problem is that it is very difficult to de-sensitise him to the traffic under controlled conditions if at the same time you are walking him along that stretch of road every day!
I would have suggested going nowhere near the road until you're ready to so so but I guess you have to use it every day.
Do you have a car? Can you drive him to the Park while you are training him?
How is he in the garden? Or in the car? Do the lorries still freak him out then?

There is something called "combination drug therapy", where your vet prescribes two very very low doses of two different tranks; the odd effect is that the combination reduces fear but without making him at all sleepy. You use it alongside working with a behavioural trainer t work on the phobia, then you remove the drugs.
Not everyone likes the idea, its usually used for dogs that suffer extreme generalised anxiety. And I've no idea if it would be suitable for your dog.
Ask your vet if there is a behavioural trainer working alongside the practice and see if you can get a referral. If you use the PDSA, or are near a Dogs Trust kennel they may have a trainer who can help.

Answer 3

If he's only 9 months, maybe he'll grow to be more comfortable with traffic. Although if you live on a busy street, it might be a good thing that he's afraid, then you won't have to worry about him getting hit.

Sorry, not much help there. But I must say I'm glad that you're against hurting him to train him. Too many people don't realize that they have feelings too.

Answer 4

Think of it as a good thing that your dog is scared of traffic. This way you don't have to worry about him running out and getting hit by a car, which would be much worse than you having to deal with his fear.

Answer 5

A well-trained dog makes everyone happy, including his owner. Take a little time training him, and you'll never regret it; you'll always have an obedient dog by your side. Find more https://tr.im/s0crv

By their nature, dogs are pack animals with a well-defined social order. Through basic training, you need to consistently make sure your puppy understands that you are the leader, not him. So in teaching him the basic rules, you take on the role of pack leader.

To fit into the family circle, your dog must be taught to recognize his name and such commands as come, heel, lie down and sit.

Answer 6

you are going to have to be patient and do this a bit at a time. first time only a few seconds near the traffic (not too near) keep him on the lead and take something to distract him, squeaky toys or similar if he responds to it, give him lots of fuss and a food treat. repeat over as long as it takes but in very small amounts and he will acclimatise to the traffic. he WONT grow out of it, the longer you leave it the worse he will get. you could also tape traffic sounds and play them at home, very low at first and always distracting him with something . its all about taking it very slowly . when he gets used to the noise bit by bit he will be used to hearing it and it wont seem a theat. lots of patience required on your part. its two steps forward and one back but it WILL work

Answer 7

well, maybe you should just get used to the idea that he doesn't like water. most dogs don't like baths water hoses etc. and rotties are not dogs that are known for swimming and liking water. Just let him be how he is, eventually he may decide water is okay and get in the lake or small pool, but until then, don't pressure him

Answer 8

Your just going to have to hold him next to the trains and tell him it's okay. I have a 130lb 8yr old rott and he is scared of loud noises too. It's the noise not the train. I take mine to the county fair and he is jumpy at first but I hold him close and talk to him. Plus you got a pup he's got a lot of growing up to do.

Answer 9

Just cont. taking him on his walks near the street and you kinda have to talk to the dog and let them know it's ok, have you had the dog since a baby? If not maybe before you got him he almost got hit by a car or something and that might be the reason why he is afraid.

Answer 10

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