Reactivity towards cars - nothing is working

[letsnott]

My dog has been reactive towards cars since he was around 4 months old. He's now a year old. I have seen trainers and a qualified dog behaviourist but nothing has helped at all. I have tried lots of strategies:

• Giving treats any time he sees a car, building up to giving a treat when he sees a car and then looks back at me. I have done this for months on end, spending weeks down quiet roads but as soon as a car comes down the road he's on he looses it and starts barking/screaming and lunging at it
• The behaviourist seemed to think it was more wanting to chase rather than fear-based so suggested I hold his collar and sit him next to my feet when cars come. This seemed to escalate his behaviour as he then felt trapped and I found it upsetting to see.
• I drive him to quiet places to walk but with the nights drawing in this will be possible soon as it will be pitch black before I start work and after, and my lunch break isn't long enough to drive him somewhere and walk him.
• I've also implemented things the behaviourist suggested like giving him one full day off from walks a week to allow his cortisol to drop, making sure he gets enough sleep in the day and making sure he gets lots of calm, quiet time in the day.

I feel at a complete loss of what to do. I took him on a walk this evening when it should have been pretty quiet but there was just car after car after car. I feel so embarrassed as I feel like I look stupid and incompetent and the worst dog owner in the world.

I have a lot of sympathy but no useful advice. Iwent through it. Post adolesence it has slowly slowly improved using the tactics you have used. I also drove my dog for every walk and couldnt walk from the house.

Is he a collie?

Have you tried going to the edge of a quiet car park with only parked cars? How does he react to that?

In all honesty, you might still just be too close. The principle of BAT or DMT starts with finding the distance that the dog can see the trigger and not react. For some dogs it's down the street, for others, it's a whole road away, for some 3 football fields away.

I had this with my collie, building up the distance to be around cars, treats and sitting on benches watching traffic go by really helped but I have never been able to cure his reaction to buses. If they are on the same side of the road then he lunges for them, it’s very odd as lorries that are often bigger are fine but he just hates buses. I assume it’s a fear reaction. It’s a bit easier to manage as buses are less frequent. I would try continue your hard work and building up the distance gradually.

I found a field where I could start at the far end and gradually work my way towards the road, zigzaging across the field.

It's been a really tough behaviour to correct but we've recently started using a new dog walker who's found that a clicker is helping her.

I had/have this problem with my corgi. Corgis are herding dogs and given 1/2 a chance he’d chase livestock and I think part of his problem is that he wants to chase cars. I live very rurally but we do meet cars tractors the milk tanker etc.although I don’t live on a road. Our roads are very narrow and if I meet a car I often have to climb into the hedge keep his lead short and put him behind my legs.
I don’t think he’s as bad a your dog but it is annoying.
i tried treats it worked if I had the treats but if I didn’t have them on me he instantly reverted back as if he’d never had them.
One day I sitting on a wall on the road side waiting for a friend and trying to answer an email, cars tractors the milk tanker went by but I was busy typing an email and took no notice of them he just sat at my feet and ignored the whole lot because I was busy and didn’t make anything of cars etc.
So I think he’s has an innate desire to chase/herd but I’ve also made a thing about cars because the roads here are very narrow he then started getting very excited/het up when cars etc go past and I then either rewarded this with treats or frantically shortened his lead adding to his excitement/tension.
Now when I see a car etc I don’t start shortening the lead I even lengthen it/try to keep it loose. Trying to send out the message to him I’m not worried interested in cars etc and you should be the same. I’m not saying it always works but he’s definitely much calmer.

One of my daft dogs lunges at cars. I find it super embarrassing and stressful. Behaviourist didn't really help us either. So no help from me, just solidarity.

I would try a different behaviourist. My dog hates his collar being held.,

I remember an episode of the programme where the trainer wears tweeds - can't remember the name! He worked with a dog and said it was the dog protecting the owner from the car and sorted it on that basis. Might be worth trying to find the episode.