When you are dealing with something that an animal is afraid of, the best approach is to find his "comfort" distance from the thing that scares him. A busy street makes this a bit more difficult, as you have to find a way to give him that "distance". If you have a car, maybe transporting him to a less busy area might make a good start. Perhaps a side street, where he is comfortably away from busy traffic. You could then walk toward the busy street, pausing as soon as you see some sign of anxiety, and retracing your steps just little until he is in his "comfort zone" again. Gradually…...with the use of bribery and rewards......ask him to approach closer to the scary stuff. Liberally reward him for being there, then retreat. The idea is to not force, let him decide when he is ready. If he feels he can retreat at any time, he will have more confidence. This approach may take awhile, but is less likely to create a permanent aversion. (it works well with spooky horses).
New Puppy Books
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My brother and his wife just got a new puppy and I'd like to send them a puppy book to encourage good socialization and positive training methods. I was thinking about the Ian Dunbar "Before and After Getting Your Puppy" book. I have not read that one yet myself. I think it would need to be a pretty easy read, I'm not sure how much time they will spend looking at it. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Clay -
I am sending home The Puppy Primer with each of my puppies this year.
http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/product/puppy-primer-positive-training-for-your-puppy
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I always liked "How to Raise a puppy you can live with" by Clarice Rutheford. You can find it quiet inexpensively on Amazon as a used book.
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Here is a link to The Puppy Primer on Dogwise.com since the other one doesn't seem to quite work right. http://www.dogwise.com/itemdetails.cfm?ID=DTB599
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Thanks for the suggestions. I might get them both.