Garbage Truck Scared Puppy To Death

This is typical of my luck. My 14 week old pup was so good overnight when I woke up and wasn't whining so I whisked him outside to do his business. The garbage truck came at that EXACT moment and he went into a panic and was shaking like a leaf, tail between his legs, tried to bolt inside. When the truck was gone I ran and got some Turkey to try to take him outside again soon after and reward him to make him happy to be outside.

I keep trying to take him outside slowly now with the turkey but now he's scared out there! HELP

After about 10 minutes I got him outside again with the turkey and he didn't seem AS scared, he finally pooped. He still seemed a bit unnerved but not tail between his legs.

I have him in his crate for some nap time now. What can I do today to get him back outside and experiencing some louder city noises? A walk around the block?

I live in a suburb/city and need him to be confident with vehicles.

He had shown no fear of vehicles before this.

I have been so overwhelmed by the puppy blues (my first post) and this is making it worse. I feel like now he's going to have some major fear. I feel positively awful

 

Aww, poor little thing! I'm sure he'll gain confidence as he's exposed to more things. I'm sorry I have no magic tips but hope things get better for you quickly.

 

Poor little guy. We live in the City and there are tons of scary noises - Quinn (and me) can still get a fright here and there. Right away, we started saying "it's OK" in a bright voice and acting as nonchalant as possible when something scared her and gave her a treat - we didn't comfort her. She is not scared of the things she is used to anymore - loud trucks, street sweepers, dumpsters, construction, traffic...but she will get scared of weird things once and awhile, like shadows or something by the side of the road that she can't identify (like a pile of branches lol). I say it's OK, and now she trusts me that it is OK and will walk on. Sometimes we go inspect the scary thing with lots of treats. He will get more confident as he gets older and used to his environment.

P.S. when she was super small - 11ish weeks or so, we were out for a late night pee and a raccoon zoomed out across the street right at me. I screamed my head off and picked up Quinn, scaring the life out of her and she has no lasting effects against screaming or raccoons if that makes you feel any better

 

Try to relax yourself, he'll feel your worry and concern. Be matter of fact about it and expose him to lots of noisy trucks at a distance.

He'll be fine

 

Thanks for the posts. I suffer from anxiety on occasion and I think he has me so worried all the time that I'm going to do something that will permanently scar him. I've had tons of experience with dogs, and I know you're supposed to stay calm, and I did. I actually thought maybe him seeing the garbage truck would be a good thing to see as a puppy, and I thought that removing him from the situation might make him think the truck was something to be feared. But it came so fast so before I could react and see that he was over his threshold and by then it was too late and he was panicking.

I know they can pick up on emotions but that one sent me for a loop because I got so scared that he would end up with a lifelong fear of trucks that would never go away. Ayyyyy. All this after a great night....I think he could sense I was tired and sad last night so he cut me a break on the whining at night. It was amazing.

Before this he has been extremely confident in all situations and hadn't shown a drop of fear of anything.

 

This is a really good sign. It will have been a sudden shock - but he'll get over it, just keep exposing him to new experiences every day

If a pup develops a lasting fear deal with it then, if it happens (it's rare) don't worry about what was simply a one-off. There will always be things which startle pups in our confusing world.


...

 

My biggest concern was that the two times I took him back outside (I got the turkey and tried to remind him right away that outside is a fun place) he was shaking and his tail was between his legs. Even though the truck had gone.

Thanks for your response though! I'm going to get him a front clip harness this morning and take him on a walk with some high value treats.

 

Give the treat after passing the scary thing/person/whatever when the dog has been calm. Don't use treats to calm the dog, it won't work.

You need to let them see things from a distance and move away if they want to. Never lure them towards something they look worried about. Let them move away, then - when they relax - treat. Let them stay and look until they do relax. The whole time you be totally relaxed and unconcerned, he will read your body language so do something you do when unconcerned -whistle, look at your phone - whatever, to give the signal 'all is well'.

The best indication that all is well is a shake. We call this 'shaking it off' and they get special praise and treats for that.

As you can imagine Guide Dogs need to be bomb proof so we are very well taught on how to manage anything which worries them.

With Mollie at the moment it's steps - so we are just going looking at lots of different steps and stairs every day, that's it for a few weeks steps wise, treats for a relaxed attitude. then she'll go up them when she's ready.

 

Got it. The garbage cans were out last night and he kept looking at them, so I decided to try to show him that they were nothing to worry about. I slowly let him approach at his own pace with praise. Then I put my hand on one of the cans (no noise). Then let him walk away. He seemed ok.

So you're saying if I take him out on the street next time and he looks worried about a truck, I should let it pass and then give him the treat? I always thought we were supposed to treat while it was going on.

 

Let him watch the truck and move away if that's what he wants to do. Treat the relaxed attitude, not the appearance of the truck. Just ignore the appearance of the truck. If you feel worried (about the pup's reaction) try saying 'ah yes, a truck, we relax around trucks' to remind yourself lol

Don't tense up as this will transfer down the lead.

With Gypsy it was plastic bags I passed them at a distance and did the above. Eventually she, too, just ignored them.

What I am saying is work on your own relaxed calm attitude and the pup's will follow.




...

 

Okay I will report back. I've seen dogs get scared of things before and recover, but his reaction was so extreme and that's why I am so worried.

 

Hi, when Bailey was tiny he experienced a lot of noise from a lorry - my job is running a bar and it was the weekly beer delivery. To begin with he would run up for a fuss from the draymen (most were more than happy to oblige with a fuss!). Then we moved him away while the barrels were unloaded (they do make a racket when being unloaded). We let Bailey set his own pace at getting closer and within a couple of weeks he thought he could chase the barrels as they were rolled to the cellar! Now he is so used to the delivery coming he just comes for his weekly fuss (he even recognises those that are happy to make a fuss and those that don't want to know) and then he goes back inside to lay down until the delivery is finished.

As Boogie has said just remind yourself to stay calm - I too can panic at things, but having Bailey and knowing that I have to stay calm with him has helped. Dogs are remarkable, they are very forgiving (we all make mistakes) and tough little things.

 

Yes, I try not to react the same way he reacted. He has naturally not been afraid of alot of noises. One day as we were walking on the street, a big yellow school bus flew by us and caught him by surprise and he got spooked. I just kept walking calmly and he calmed down. Hasn't happened again.

 

I wish the garbage truck would have the guys that come out to get the cans, I'd have them come and say hi to him. But it's the truck with the automatic arm that reaches out and grabs the can. It's too much noise even for me...I hate them. He's still spooked by noises now outside. Seems to get a little better. But I can never predict when a big truck is going to come by around here :/

 

DO you have a window near that side of the house? Just that the sound would be there just muted if he could see and hear it but be inside when it came past?

Our puppy freaked out at lawnmowers - early days out on a walk we came around the corner and someone was mowing their year and puppy freaked out tail under her tried to bolt. I just worked on getting her to come back to the heel position right alongside me and moving forward slowly and if she did she got a treat then another til we were past the 'scary' sound while not rushing and not allowed to run away. Later we had lawnmowers further away that she'd look in the direction of. She's 7 months now and with our older dog between her and the mower we walked past on the other side of the road when someone was mowing yesterday and she didnt hesitate or react beyond looking (and got praise and treat for that).

Anything else thats scary (like a young kid on a tiny bike she had no idea what to make of that and it was scary - poor kid didnt know what to do but her family called her to move which is what I needed at the time) I have the treat there and try to get her attention on again coming to heel and walking forward. I'd rather have the puppy put me between her and the scary thing than try to bolt off whereever but it takes time and experiences before they go from scared to curious (later we came across a young kid with a scooter similar size and this time she just stood to watch it so we waited and watched then went forward once they had gone past).

 

Hi, I'm a new dog dad and new to the forum. Finny is my adopted 6 month old black lab puppy. Sweet as anything and getting better all of the time. He's anxious about noises, but I can understand since he had a few homes before settling with us for his forever home. We've had him a month/ 5 weeks now and there has been a huge improvement in his anxieties as he trusts us more. We're walking every morning and he's learning to walk on a leash and getting better about pulling when he gets excited, but not so much when he's freaked out. As others here have experienced, garbage trucks are an unrelenting nightmare for him. He handles the noise when we're inside the house much better. I try to avoid walking in neighborhoods when I expect we might encounter a garbage truck, but we've been surprised by them and he pulls so hard I'm afraid he'll hurt himself. I find myself unsure whether to pick him up and wait it out/ walk away or jog away with him to let him chill out. Any advice for a new dad when something especially triggering happens on a walk? as others have noted, treats don't help when his anxiety is through the roof. I'm not trying to make him face his fear but don't want to amplify his anxiety by freaking out and running away with him either.

 

I personally think it's good for dogs to be a little apprehensive about moving vehicles so they will be more likely to stick by your side when there is a lot of commotion on the street and if an incident occurs where your pup gets off of their leash.










Kodi nox