Fear of busy traffic

[JudyCollins]

Hi Adrienne

My 3 month old Springer Spaniel puppy has just had his 2nd lot of vaccinations, so is allowed out in public places. I live in a suburban street which is fairly quiet traffic-wise but has busy streets all around it so I must encounter at least one in order to take him on a short walk around the block. As we get close to the traffic, he sits down and refuses to move. He is panting and his ears are back. His tolerance distance is about 70-100 metres.

I have tried the Jolly game and I dance around and whoop it up and he joins in for a while, but as soon as he notices we are getting closer to the traffic he sits down again. He won't take treats at this stage so usually I head back home. However I am afraid that I might be confirming his belief that the traffic is something to be scared of.

I have also taken him to an old cemetery, which is situated on a very busy road. I park at the entrance, just off the road and feed him treats whilst he is in his crate with lead on and door open - just for him to get used to the traffic noise. Eventually he will let me pick him up and carry him inside the gates. The cemetery has high walls so he can't actually see the traffic but can hear it and his behaviour is the same if we get too close to any of the external walls. In fact he seems quite stressed for the entire time we are there (maybe 10-15 mins) but is happier when we are close to the centre as far away as possible from the noise. 

Having said all that, I am currently sitting in my back garden which is VERY noisy, with the main road only 100 meters away. This is an area he is very comfortable in. He sometimes pricks his ears up at a car revving up or a noisy motorbike but is otherwise unphased. 

I wondered whether it would help to carry him towards the busy road and then along it for 60 metres before I can turn into a quiet street, but I don't want to frighten him. How best should I proceed?

Thanks for your help.

Judy

[Adrienne]

Hi Judy, 

This is a challenging situation, because we don't want to to overwhelm puppies, but we want to progress step-by-step taking small incremental steps while ensuring the puppy is comfortable. Also, understandably, puppy owners are often in a challenging place when they have young puppies, because vets often don't want puppy owners to take puppies out before they have finished their vaccinations so to prevent potentially life-threatening diseases, when this is an important time when puppies should get used to their surroundings and commonly encountered stimuli during their first few weeks in their new homes. It's very unfortunate that the puppy socialization window has to almost close right when pups are done getting their vaccines. So once they have finished their jabs, they are out in a big and loud, unfamiliar world. 

However, we should also factor in the possible role of genetics. If a puppy is born to parents who are emotionally prone to responding fearfully, this instability may be inherited to the puppy. Interestingly, it has also been found that if a mother dog experiences significant stress during pregnancy, the circulation of stress hormones in the bloodstream can affect her puppies who consequently "learn" that, the world they will be born into, is a scary place. 

Regardless, of how a fear is formed, there are several things we can try to make life better for these pups. While training is one of them, dogs cannot be trained if they are in a too fearful state. With fearful behavior, more than training, therefore, working on the issue requires behavior modification. This entails creating positive associations with anything related to traffic without presenting such stimuli in an overwhelming form. For working on dog fears, it therefore helps getting familiar with two powerful behavior modifications techniques:

Desensitization and counterconditioning. 

Desensitization: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

Counterconditioning: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

Rather than leaving the area when you notice your pup is starting to not take treats and starts stalling, it would be more optimal leaving before he gets in this overwhelmed, over threshold state. Here is a read on threshold levels in dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

And this read explains the dynamics behind avoidance behaviors and why it's preferable taking a gradual approach:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/exposure-therapy/

I  am not sure whether carrying would be a good ides for different reasons. Firstly, we don't know how his emotional state is when he's in your arms. He might as well be stalled/not willing to take treats but you may not notice. On top of this, he may start wanting to be carried more and more any time he feels fearful. Not to mention, he may come to perceive being carried with something fearful coming. I would therefore aim to taking baby steps and continue creating positive associations. 

On top of the Jolly Routine, Open bar/closed bar is also helpful:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

If you can identify exactly what triggers his fear (passing cars, trucks) you can work on presenting such things gradually, like starting from watching  from a window in a LAT fashion:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

or playing recording in a "hear that" fashion, or even feeding treats when you notice in the yard he's pricking his ears at a car:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-noises/

Sometimes, another puppy or even an adult, social dog may be the best teachers. If they walk confidently and without fear, the pup may come to follow their lead and walk with them with a different set of mind. You may start with a fun play session in the yard, with the other puppy ignoring any sounds and showing confidence, and then try to see how he does on a walk with this other puppy. Something worth trying if feasible. 

Here are some tips for dogs fearful of going on walks and going outside in general:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-going-walks/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/fear-going-outside/

Please consider that creating a more confident pup takes a multi-faceted approach. Brain games and training can help to a great extent over the long run! Clicker training in particular can be helpful especially with shaping as we are reinforcing inquisitive behaviors. For example, you can place a flattened box in the center of the room and click and treat him for any investigative behaviors (like walking towards the box, then sniffing the box, then placing a paw on the box, and then end the session with a jackpot of treats once she walks on the box). You can find how to clicker train your dog in the clicker training section. If your dog is scared of the clickers sound I dropped a link about how to tackle that as well.

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/clicker-training/

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?246-Dog-is-terrified-of-the-clicker&highlight=clicker

There are several tips you may find helpful in this recent post.. Although your pup seems OK in quiet streets, it doesn't hurt to further reinforce that the outside is a good place by taking the baby steps outlined in this post (feeding high-value treats by the door, then the door open etc until you can progress to her taking treats while looking outside)

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/forum/showthread.php?250-Rescue-dog-affraid-of-everything/page2

Let me know if you need any elucidations as I know this is a whole lot of reading material!

Best,

Adrienne

 

 

 

[JudyCollins]

Thanks so much Adrienne. You are an amazing resource and put so much effort i to your replies. I will read through all the links and try with patience. 

My sister has a female pup from the same litter, who is not at all afraid of going for walks, so it is unlikely to be hereditary. I had wondered if it might help to take them out together on a walk.

Thanks for your help. I'll let you know how we go.

[Adrienne]

You are very welcome! You sister's pup may turn out helpful, hopefully your pup will be influenced from her behaviors and will absorb some of her confidence. Keep me posted!

Best,

Adrienne 

[JudyCollins]

Hi Adrienne,

I have read through most of the material you have highlighted, and have tried a few things, but I will go back and re-read.

The first thing I tried was to sit with him on the grass verge outside my house and watch the traffic go past the end of my street, which is probably about 80 metres away. This was probably the most successful thing I tried. I stroked him and talked quietly and fed him small bits of steamed chicken every minute or so. All was going well until a car turned up my street and he bolted in the opposite direction. (He had a long line on) I can't see any traffic from the windows in my house.

Next I tried taking him down to the busy street with my sisters dog. As we got closer he sat down a couple of times but we encouraged him on and he came of his own accord. Soon we were walking along the busy road and he seemed fine, playing with my sisters dog. That walk was about 100 metres and then we turned the corner, up another busy road for another 100 metres. This was when I realised he was not fine. He was leading the way, pulling strongly on the lead and panting with his ears back. We headed home - the next street was quiet and we did not encounter another car. Probably the whole walk took 5-10 mins.

I'm afraid that this second walk constituted "flooding" and hope that I haven't done more damage. 

I think the sound of the cars alone doesn't worry him as I can hear these sounds from my back garden, but the sight of the cars driving past one after the other, probably paired with the noise, is the problem. 

I am taking him to the vet on Friday for his final shots so will ask her about something to calm him and in the meantime will have a look for adaptil from the pet shop. 

I think it is too soon to take him on another walk in my area, but wondered whether I should try taking him to my sisters street and try another walk with her puppy there, as it is quieter. However, there is always a possibility that a car will drive past. I do feel so sorry for the poor little dog.

[Adrienne]

Hello, thanks for the update,

An unpredictable environment is often the biggest enemy of any behavior modification program. It can undo all the positive associations one has worked hard on creating and further convince the dog that the place is really scary, so yes, it's important to protect any progress made as much as possible. Often, it's best to just keep things very brief, taking baby steps and ending the session on a positive note just for the sake of 'bringing home something good" and with the dogs eager to continue. So it may help to make something great happen (the chicken, play with your sister's dog), and then if possible, aim to go back home (and back to safety from the dog's perspective) so that the session ends on a positive note and the pup hasn't had the chance to rehearse any fearful behaviors. 

It seems like your sister's dog was helping a lot initially (play is on the total opposite spectrum of fear as fearful dogs won't play!), but perhaps at some point things just go too intense and overlapped so the scary sight/sound of cars then predominated. I am glad that after the busy road there was a quieter road, hopefully that calmed him down a bit so that he came back home in a better emotional state versus the scary busy road being the least impression. Hopefully he was able to recover fast and focus on playing with his sister afterward once back home. 

In any case, if there was some form of setback, then the remedial work is to go back a few steps and until he develops better coping skills and more confidence. It would be important to ensure the home/yard remains a positive, fun place that feels safe. 

When dealing with an unpredictable environment, it may help to "artificially" (so to say) create some set-ups so that we have some better level of control over the environment. In other words, if we can have a helper drive by a few times in a row with the dog under threshold at a distance (maybe inside the home with the door open), this may work to our advantage. This may create the perfect set-up for the OPEN/BAR CLOSED/BAR method. Every time, the car is seen passing by, chicken happens, when the car is out of sight, no more chicken. Care is needed though to be extra, extra careful to ensure all goes well, because we want to expand his world versus closing it up more.

 Calming aids may be helpful to pave the path for a better learning state, although, the process should remain the same (always taking baby steps, creating positive associations, watching for signs of stress, and preventing as much as possible setbacks). There are a variety of calming aids from over the counter ones, to DAP collars, to Thundershirts, Calming Caps, but sometimes when the fear is too much or life is just too unpredictable, to the point it impairs a dog's cognitive functions, vets may prescribe medications often to be used along with the guidance of a dog behavior professional for correct implementation of behavior modification. 

It is hard to say whether it may be worth a try going to your sister's street. It could go well maybe, but maybe not. I would be worried if something unexpected would happen again further convincing him that now almost everywhere is scary. If your puppy has never been to your sister's place, consider that usually fears tend to intensify in novice places compared to more familiar places. Perhaps it can be though a good future project once he seems to do better in your area. 

You may have to have get creative at times on walks to protect your hard work as you progress and prevent scary exposures that he's not ready to deal with yet. For example, if there are large trash cans or parked cars in your neighborhood, you may want to stand behind them on walks with your pup as a car is passing so that they can work as a visual barrier and buffer a bit the effect. Or on sidewalk, you may walk on the side of traffic so that your body blocks a bit of the view and your pup gets to stay farther away from the cars. These are just a few ideas that come to mind.  But yes, slow and steady wins the race in behavior modification. 

[JudyCollins]

Thanks so much Adrienne. Your advice is so sensible. I will be very careful with him. He is my main priority at the moment. He does seem to be quite an anxious dog overall - wary of anything new. He is getting used to noisy toys now and to the hair dryer and food mixer and is venturing to try out new things, slowly, so I am hopeful he will be OK in time.

[Adrienne]

Based on your description, since he sounds fearful of normal household sounds and anything new, I am wondering if maybe the breeder may have raised him out of the house such as in a garage, barn or other area. This is not too unusual with some of the most outdoorsy breeds.

He is in great hands and lucky to have a dedicated owner like you! It's good to have him investigate and figure things out on his own terms. Praise for taking initiative and interacting with things you may also strategically place treats on new things just so he knows they aren't going to harm him and won't eat him 🙂 Hair dryer turns on (at a distance he's comfortable), treats happen yay!, hair dryer turns off, no more goodies. Careful the day you need to use the vacuum, start from the farthest room and work gradually while a helper creates positive associations.