KennyR wrote:
Is there a way you can teach animals to be wary outside without having to risk them early in their lives? That initial risk where you just leave them to do their thing is just too dangerous. Too many dogs and bad people, too much traffic, too much chance of them never coming back.
Hmm. This all depends on whether road-weariness is learnt or
unlearnt. We had a puppy (the only dog they have left at home now) who was quite sensitive when we first got her, but living out in the countryside has made her much less weary. Walking such a puppy on a lead alongside a busy road would surely have some impact on its emotions regarding highways. Unfortunately emotions are the only way you can affect a dog's behaviour. It simply won't occur to him/her that a vehicle could be hurtling round the next corner. The best you can do is try and teach them what a road looks like a stay the hell away from it.
Dale had a pretty scary accident of sorts not long after I got him. He was four and a half at the time, so I don't know where he lived before this but he had no real qualms about dashing over the road. He was however, quite capable of sticking to the paths so I started walking him off the lead alongside a quite empty, very straight road with good visibility near my house. If he seemed to consider stepping into the road for whatever reason, I'd say "Dale..." in a "warning" tone of voice. Quite deep and heavily stressed but not at all aggressive. A week or two of this was enough that he rarely looked to the road.
So I figured he'd be safe on a busier road, so I walked him one night along the road between the town and one of the smaller villages. He was excited about being in a new place and at one point looked as if he was about to step out into the road. There was a car coming and I shouted "Dale!" forgetting in my panic that he was more likely to ran
away from me if I shouted at that point. So he darted out into the road and hit his head against the side of the car's rear left wheel. A split second earlier and it would have gone over his head. :-(
Fortunately he wasn't hurt, but it was enough to crystalise (I can't think of a better word) his training up to that point. He's about as safe as any dog
can be by the road now.
