My 20 month old Black Labrador, Masie, chased a cat nearly three weeks ago. She was hit by a car, ran off and was found with grazes to her legs, nothing serious thank goodness. Now understandably she is traumatised and hates going anywhere where there might be a car. Any tips to help her get over this trauma and not be frightened when going for a walk would be gratefully received.
Hi and welcome , what an awful thing to happen , she is one lucky dog to have gotten off so lightly, must have been a shock for you though . I would carry on taking her where they could be cars, but just for short periods, don't swamp her with her fear too much . Also , try and be relaxed yourself, not easy I`m sure but Masie will pick up on your anxiety and stress, so make it all very " matter of fact and normal " . When she reacts , don't say Good dog, or she will assume she is being praised for reacting, just relaxed and as stress free as possible will soon have her over it, bit like children falling off a bike, the sooner they get back on the better . Labs are sensitive dogs , so her reaction is very much to be expected ,keep the possible car meeting walks short and sweet, good luck to you and Masie too .
Hi and welcome to the forum from me and my two Labs, Willow and Shadow. What a terrifying experience for both of you. I'm so glad she got away so lightly, in a physical sense. When we first brought Shadow home, he was terrified of trucks, buses etc and stayed scared for a good long while. We dealt with it by slowly desensitising him to them; watching trucks from a distance, whilst giving him lots of treats; taking him to sniff at a stationary dust truck; doing basic training while a dust truck worked in the same car park; sitting on a pavement and watching traffic go past. It took a few months, but now he doesn't even flinch if a truck lets off its air brakes next to us. In the short term, I'd suggest you should keep exposure to traffic to times when you're actually working on desensitising her. That means, if possible, driving her to places for her daily walks that have no need to walk on or near roads. If she reacts to hearing car noises played on your computer or TV, you could also use this, by playing it really, really quietly to start with and treating her for calm, then gradually raising the volume over time. She might not react in the same way to a noise on the computer as a real car, though, so it won't help if the noises alone don't bother her. Good luck and let us know how it goes
Oh what an awful experience for both of you. How is she around your car? Is it stationary cars as well as moving cars? Can you just walk down the road past neighbours cars or does she react. If it is moving cars, is it possible to just sit near the road and just let her watch the cars while treating as a first step. As the advice above, it is training to desensitise her of her understandable fear of cars. Slowly but surely will get you there - and lots of fantastic treats of course.
I don't really have anything to add, The advice is spot on. Just wanted to say so glad she's okay. It must have been so dreadful for you both. X
A lucky escape... Sorry this was such a traumatic experience that brought you to the forum, but welcome anyway. With time Maisie will regain her confidence, but obviously the main thing will be making sure she doesn't do the mad cat-chasing routine again! (And believe me, they are ALL capable of that!)
Welcome to the forum Glad she was not seriously hurt. That must've been a terribly frightening experience for you.
My goodness, how awful! Glad she escaped serious injury. You have had some good advice so I don't need to add any but do let us know how things go.
How terrible for you. I'm glad no real harm was done. I can't really add anything to the advice given, except initially perhaps just walk her along a quiet road where there won't be much traffic, taking plenty of treats with you. Use it for a training exercise too, getting her to sit at the kerb, then crossing the road. Good luck.
Glad Maisie didn't suffer any serious physical injuries . I would do desensitisation as suggested by Snowbunny. Hope you manage to overcome her fear.
