Every week on bin day out walking Willow and me encounter a bin lorry. She attempts to run away I get her to sit and wait until it passes but they stop every few yards and move the bins making a loud noise. I try to entice her to walk but she just pulls back. I don't want to drag her and she is getting too heavy for me to pick up and carry. She sits but is shaking from fear.
Gosh, I wouldn't ask a dog to sit still in the presence of something they are terrified of! Imagine being terrified of snakes and having someone insist you sit there every time one comes near you - preventing you from leaving! If working with a dog's fears, we need to empower the dog to feel in control around whatever they are scared of. That means, teaching them they are free to move away from it. Frankly, I'd be saying 'Let's Go' and running in the opposite direction to the bin lorry whilst showering my dog with treats - in the hope that the bin lorry comes to 'mean' a treat party...
I normally pick her up I was reassuring her all time it didn't pass us but turned down one of the streets off the one we was on so we made a quick getaway.
I am not advocating the technique but indicating what is going wrong with what you are doing. There is a technique called flooding which requires the dog to be constrained in the presence of the fearful object until the dog calms down. One may have to constrain the dog for several hours. If the dog is moved or the object it fears moves away, then the dog is made more fearful--the dog is sensitised even more. You need to stop using the actions described in your first entry. You can try Jo's suggested policy or practice LAT with lorries. Since the dog is showing a high degree of fear, you will need to gradually introduce the lorry training. Use large distances to initially keep your dog below threshold.You will
We can start by watching the bin lorry from the house out of the window she is in a safe environment then maybe watch from the gate in the garden. I don't think it's the lorry but the noise of bins being moved. I did give her a treat but she was more interested in what the lorry was doing. I picked her up and held her close and she was fine with that but she is getting too heavy. We will walk later after the bins have been emptied on that day. What is LAT
I like the gradual approach you suggest. In particular, the noise will be less when you watch from the closed window. Re LAT or look at that take a look at https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/look-at-that.22184/
Poor you. I have the opposite problem Ava gets really excited if she hears or sees a bin lorry and pulls to get near it! This is down to the bin men making a fuss of her since she was tiny. They even carry biscuits to feed dogs so they are not frightened of them. Is this something your bin men could do once you can get close enough?
A lorry past us today she just looked at it I gave her a treat and she carried on walking I think she is getting used to all the construction lorries and bin lorries here. The beep too when manovering.
