Does she pull toward the vehicles or away from them?

 

I would start, in your own mind, by treating this as two separate problems.

One problem is that she's scared of cars and trucks and things that jump out of the woods. She can't consciously control her feelings about them.

The other problem is the way she actually expresses her feelings: by pulling, struggling to escape, etc. She might have a bit of control over how she chooses to react. However, that choice slips away from her as panic sets in and she loses access to the thinking part of her brain.

At this stage of dealing with the problem, I would try to avoid putting her in situations where she rehearses her reaction. Does she enjoy riding in a car? If she doesn't mind car rides, do you have the option to drive her to the forest instead of walking her next to the road?

You said you tried sitting near quiet roads and offering her treats. Did she reject the treats entirely? Or did treats simply fail to make a difference in how she feels about vehicles?

 

Thanks very much for your replies. She pulls away from vehicles. She's OK in a car but not mad about it. Sometimes looks worried. Sorry but my many areas of incompetence include my inability to drive (my wife does, but I do almost all of the dog walking).

She took the treats sometimes but it hardly made any difference. Strangely enough, the hugs seem to be having an effect.

 

It's good to know she doesn't pull towards cars. Some dogs have an intense desire to chase things, including cars. It sounds like she isn't combining her fear of cars with a desire to chase and/or bite them. That's good.

This is going to be a long post. It won't, yet, give you a solution. It is just to help you prepare a foundation for your solution.

I already suggested, as a first step, to avoid putting her in situations where she rehearses her fearful reactions. Of course, avoiding noisy vehicles forever isn't realistic. Think of this first stage as a mental holiday for her. It won't last forever, but it will help her regain her equilibrium. While she is having her holiday, work on playing some training games with her. I would also reinforce playing with a tug toy, if that's something she enjoys. For training games I would suggest Look At Me, Touch My Hand, Face Me, Move to My Left Side, Move to My Right Side. Teach her each of these commands, and reward her with a treat and happy praise each time she complies. Then increase the challenge for her: practice walking while she follows along looking at you, while following your hand, while moving between your left side and your right side. Switch between tasks. Ask her to look at your face. Reward her, and ask her to move to your side. Reward her again, and ask her to face you. Make sure these games are fun for her. They should be a way for her to feel like she's the center of your attention, and that she's the best girl ever.

Tangentially, here are some important training concepts to think about.

One is called trigger stacking. What this means is that the pressure from a series of minor stresses builds up, like shaking a bottle of fizzy water. She may not react much to the first noisy car, but it has upset her slightly. Each new car upsets her more. Finally she has a meltdown when she sees yet another car. This new car isn't doing anything different from all the previous cars. If this was the only car she had seen that day, she would be fine. It's just that seeing multiple cars has pushed her over threshold, and she's too stressed to function properly anymore. Once she hits her limit, it can take hours or even days for the stress hormones to leave her bloodstream. The best thing to do is to let her rest quietly at home, perhaps with a few quiet activities like chewing on a bully stick, until she recovers.

Your task, regarding trigger stacking, is to observe your girl. Learn what your her limit actually is. Returning to the metaphor of the fizzy water bottle, how much shaking will make the lid pop off the bottle? One car? Three cars? One car and one noisy truck? Then, start counting the number of triggers you encounter on your walk. When you start approaching her limit, turn around and go home. For example, one of my dogs is reactive towards other dogs he sees on our walks. He is fine for the first two dogs. Then he starts whining. After five dogs he is likely to have a full blown screaming meltdown. Therefore, I will turn around and go home after we see three dogs. He's fine once he has a nap; we can go out again later that day. If I ignore his needs, allowing him to get into a full blown screaming meltdown, I need to keep him home for 1-3 days while he mentally recovers. Your girl has a similar limit. You need to observe her and learn how to stop before she's overcooked.

The other important concept is the Three D's. These are Distance, Duration, Distraction.

Distance. Perhaps your girl is fine if she sees a car moving at the far edge of the field, but she can't handle being on the edge of the road when one goes past.​

Duration. Perhaps she is fine if you take ten seconds to walk along a three meter strip of road, she can't handle walking for five minutes along the edge.​

Distraction. Perhaps she can handle a relatively quiet Toyota Corolla passing by. A van towing a trailer full of rattling landscaping equipment is too much.​

As you increase the difficulty of one D - decreasing the distance, increasing the duration, increasing the distraction - you will probably need to decrease the difficulty of the other two D's in order to keep her under threshold.

 

Thanks very much for your extremely informative post, Curls. I will get back to you later after I have digested your advice further.

 

More thoughts on training. Let's consider leadership. When it comes to dogs, people often think that being a leader means ordering the dog around like an army sergeant. These people think a successful leader has taken the so-called alpha roll. By force of personality the leader has managed to subdue any hint of disobedience from the dog. That mindset is not really a helpful way to manage a frightened dog. The dog may, outwardly, obey. Inside, however, the dog is still just as scared as before, but she's also scared of the handler. She endures the things she does not like, because displeasing her master is even worse than enduring the things she fears and hates. That is, if you think about it, a terribly sad way for a dog to live.

Instead, a good leader is someone who helps guide the dog to a good outcome. A good leader competently assesses risks and provides good solutions to problems. A good leader earns the dog's trust. A good leader acknowledges the dog's concerns. A good leader helps the dog understand these concerns are not worth worrying about.

As I said in my first post, a frightened dog is not able to consciously control her fear. Therefore, a good leader manages the situation to prevent the dog from becoming too frightened to think properly. The good leader makes sure the dog feels secure, or or at leash makes sure thedog trusts the leader to make the right decision and keep everyone safe. Right now this dog is pulling to escape the scary traffic and, sometimes, the person holding her leash. That means the dog doesn't feel safe with the decisions her human is making.

I already suggested giving the dog a holiday from scary things: avoid walks along the road, avoid exposure to noisy vehicles, etc. I also suggested playing training games. There are several reasons for the training games.

One reason is that dogs like to play with their owners. Playing will help her see you as a source of fun and happy times.

A second reason is that the training games will help you control her body position without pulling as much on the leash. Feeling trapped will make her feel more nervous. One of my dogs is reactive around other dogs. He becomes more anxious and more reactive when I pull on his leash. Instead I have taught him to move close to me and walk with a loose leash on the side opposite the other dog. He feels safer when I am between him and the other dog. He feels safer when he has a loose leash; he has more control over how he can move his body. Therefore, being able to tell him exactly where I want him to walk, without pulling on his leash, helps to reduce his overall level of anxiety.

A third reason for training games is that frightened animals do not play. When you play, your own level of tension goes down. She will notice this. When you act silly and invite her to play, your dog sees that you are not concerned by the things around you. Your invitation to play tells her, "I believe we are safe, and you do not need to be afraid." You can start the games at a distance from all the scary things, in the middle of a field. Over several months you can move closer to the road and the scary cars. If she refuses to play a game she normally enjoys, you know her emotions are in a bad state. Even if she isn't pulling and trying to flee, you will know she is not ok. You will know you need to slow down, take her further from the scary vehicles, and change the situation until she feels safe enough to play again.