Fear issues with cars/trucks/streets

[Fran101]

Romeo is fine with most things but there a couple of things on campus that are very new/scary to him and id love to know how to get him through these fears

1) the big uconn busses/vans. he hates them.. they drive all over campus, make some noise and they freak him out. he will freeze if he sees one. trouble is they dont just stay on the road. they are parked all over the place and he doesn't even like to see them parked

2) Crossing busy streets. I either have to drag him or pick him up. he just doesn't trust cars.. hes fine with small roads with cars but he HATES the big couple of lane roads. he freezes, backs up. and i have to carry him..

now obviously, the easy solution is just to pick him up and put him down when the "threat" is passed. but thats really sort of a bandaid.. I would like to help him get OVER these fears

[JessLough]

I would be scared too, buses are so much bigger than him, and cars are scary!
At least for the buses one, I'd say treat treat treat. When you see a bus coming your way, get his attention elsewhere (either get him to sit or something else) then keep treating until the big mean bus has passed. Get him into the mind frame that bus=treats. Can't be scared of something that brings good things! As for the roads, not too sure how you would go forward using treats...

[bubbatd]

I'd be happy with the not wanting to cross streets !

[mjb]

Yes, I understand wanting him to walk on a leash beside the roads and around the buses without freezing. I would rather have him walk than pick him up, too.

On the other hand, it might not be a bad thing to be scared of busy streets! I would love to feel more secure that if our harness ever broke while walking Spanky that he wouldn't dash into the street.

[2pups622]

i always pick up my boys when crossing busy street's. There little & even the one's are aren't scared it's to busy & confusing It's safer to pick them up.

Austin has a fear of buses I just tell him it's ok & tug his leash & he keep's walking.

[skKi]

Pit had this issue for a long time. I just basically shoved delicious foods into his face whenever a car/bus/bike/any moving object started to approach us. He got over it after about a year of inconsistent training sessions as it wasn't the highest priority thing to work on with him at the time.

[sammgirl]

I wish I had better ideas...

the only thing I can think of is that when a van is parked, take him as close as he is comfortable being, and treat him when he shows that he is relaxing.

I think probably once he has acclimated to the city more, he'll have an easier time.

[PoodleMommy]

will he eventually cross the street?

Armani used to be slightly scared of crossing busy streets, he would back up, sit down, anything to NOT cross.
Obviously picking him up at every street is not an option here... I just tugged gently on his leash and said Lets Go... it only took a short time and a lot of walks across busy streets to get over it.

[lizzybeth727]

How long have you had Romeo now?

IMO it's at least partly a trust issue between him and you. Once you've had him a few weeks and have started building that trust a little more, he will trust you that when you are calm and confident to cross the street or walk by the bus, he'll be confident too.

My advice, then, would be to try to avoid these situations for the first two-four weeks you have him. I know it sounds like a long time right now, but in the grand scheme of things it's not long.

[iibao]

My cousin's Maltese is scared of fire hydrants, but if my brother walks hims. He is perfectly fine, but when someone does it he gets scared. I agree with lizzybeth727, it has a lot to do with trust. Maybe you can try jogging or running across.