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Fear of moving cars
We adopted our rescue a month ago and are working with an animal behaviorist to help with some of her other issues, but she doesn't come again for two weeks. I put in an e-mail to her but wanted to hear if anyone else had experience with this.
We've come to find out that Roxie is terrified of moving cars on walks only. She is fine with cars driving if she is in our fenced backyard. She's fine if we're inside, and she's fine if we are also in a vehicle. But on walks she is terrified of cars moving (if the car stops, she is OK, so it truly is just the movement and not cars in general). She will start yelping/barking and lunging at them.
Our behaviorist suggested we move away from the sidewalk/car, say in a happy tone "There's a car" and immediately start feeding high value treats to associate something positive with them. We tried that today, but she was so worked up she wouldn't even take treats. We moved halfway up someone's driveway and she was still terrified.
Anyone else have this issue? What worked for you? Do we just need to keep moving further and further away from the street? We have a front porch we could sit on if need be and feed her treats while cars go by.
Re: Fear of moving cars
I think your behaviorist's recommendation is sound. If she's getting too upset to respond to your treats that just mean that she's been pushed over her threshold for exposure. I would try to find a place where she's aware of the car but far enough away that she's not too scared to listen. (Your front porch sounds like a good place to start). As she gets more comfortable, you can gradually get closer to the cars, but don't push her too fast.
Best of luck!
"The hardest thing is to live richly in the present without letting it be tainted out of fear for the future or regret for the past." - Sylvia Plath
Ditto this. One of my dogs suddenly developed the same issue OP is describing (not sure what triggered it, but he probably got spooked by a fast-moving car at some point), and we have been working with him on it. We started in no-traffic areas and then moved to low-traffic areas where the cars tended to move slowly, rewarding him for not reacting. He still reacts on certain very busy, fast-moving streets and at intersections with tons of cars zipping by, so we're working up to those areas. I have found that using "look/watch me" and "quiet" (commands he already knows" have helped, especially getting his attention well before the cars approach and keeping it while they go by. GL!