Panics at traffic - Garbage truck - kids on wheels - the street

Question
We don't know her history before this.  She seems very intelligent and is a very loving pet otherwise.

She tries to run away.  She is also afraid of parked cars  We were using a standard coller then I tried a pinch coller.  The pinch coller almost instantly turns (smooth side in) and becomes useless and is just a choke after that.  She avoids getting in the car unless forced. She won't look at the car but turns away, same way with the street and sometimes tries to bolt.

Tonight was the first time she actually got in our car herself.  We opened both side doors and my wife called her from the other side and she got in.  We did that several times.  This was with a plain coller. She usually instantly bolts for a door. When we did this we took her through and out the other side and walked around and did it agian.  She seems to ride fairly well though.  We use a short leash (abt 2 ft.) that clips into the seat belt clasp.

She seems to be walking better but I have to tell her NO every few feet and pull back on the leash to get her to stop pulling and then have her sit.  My goal is to have her walk slowly and when I stop she sits especially before I go through a door or get my keys out.  We are making pretty good progress here considering we have only had her a week.

When we got her at the city pound the lady there asked me to put her back in the cage.  That was almost impossible but I finally lifted her and pushed her in.  Could some of this be because she was in a cage several weeks?  That's OK with us.  We don't care for crate trainimg very much.  We had a dog one time that just couldn't tolerate a crate and I don't think this one will.


It seems that night is better for any training sessions.  We live very near the highway and there is a lot of traffic noise during the day and less at night.  That seems to bother her.   

She also won't take treats when I'm working with her.  I thought maybe we should wait till she was hungry.   I think we are making progress but I don't want to make a mistake.  She may have been mistreated or anything.  There are several marks on her that the hair is just now growing in.  It's hard to tell if she has mange or she has been injured or burned with something there,  One spot is about the size of a 50 cent piece and round and the other place is on her face.  They are very dark in color.  Again I don't know if it is injuries or a skin condition. I have seen mange before and it doesn't really look like that.  We have to get her stitches out from the Spaying in three days and we will show them to the vet.  

Is that coller that you are recomending a Halter type?  I'm not so sure that I would like those very much.  I have read some negative things about them such as the dog will only behave when they are on, that they block vision and press on nerves that cause pain and can cause the dog's head to jerk causing injury if the dog lunges which this one does sometims.  

I would rather not use anything but a standard coller but we have to get control over her before she reaches her full weight and I am willing to try one.  Oh by the way before I forget Thanks so much for taking your time with us.  We had wondeful luck with our last dog.  She had been abandoned in a remote area.  She was house broke, could sit, wasn't destructive and otherwise was a perfect house dog.  She got quite old (about 14 or 15) and had to be put down.  Funny thing she really hated going to the vet except for that day.  I guess she knew it was time.
Larry
-------------------------
Followup To
Question -
We rescued a German Shepherd female abut 6 months old.  She seems very intelligent and is learning fast.  The problem is while she is doing well with the leash when I get near the street she starts to panic and will plant all fours.  I was walking her when the garbage truck came up the street so I made her sit and we waited till the truck came up the street.  She lost it.  I kept her sitting next to me but she was a mess. I use a very short leash. When she would turn away and start to run I would say NO and pull her back and tell her to sit.  Sometimes I had to force her into a sit.  Finally the truck was gone and she almost drug me back to the house.  I made her sit and released her several times but only with great difficulty.  As I said she is only a pup and already she is very strong.  When she reaches her full weight my wife and I won't be able to control her in this kind of situation.  How do we handle these panic attacks the right way?
Answer -
Hi Larry,  What kind of device are you walking her with?  I would highly recommend a Halti brand head halter.  It will give you more control while still helping her understand what you expect from her.  It also won't dominate her (like a pinch collar or choke chain can) into doing what you want when she is in a panic mode.  You are doing the right thing by having her sit while the truck goes by.  Is she trying to chase the truck or run away from the truck?  Also, do you know her previous history as far as what happened to her before you got her?  Dogs imprint from birth until 6 months of age, so if anything traumatic happened to her in that time i.e. almost getting hit by a car, it could have negatively affected her for life.  You should make her sit everytime a car goes by, then reassure her as it goes by so that she know that nothing is going to happen to her.  This all depends on whether she is going after the cars or running away from them though, so I would need to know which way she is going before I could give you more advise.  I do highly recommend the Halti head halter though to at least get some control of her.  Hope this helps,

Dawn

Answer
Hi Larry,  It does sound like your dog has gone through some major abuse if she is this traumatized at only 6 months.  Especially if she won't take a treat from you.  That is a sign that she has major trust issues which at 6 months old is very bad.  It normally means that they have been through some major abuse to build up that sort of anti-trust at such a young age.  As far as the Halti's, you have to get the right size to make sure and not block their vision, and I have never ever seen a dog injured by them.  In the wild a mother dog puts pressure on a pups nose to correct the pup when it is doing something wrong, and these do the same thing.  What we have found is they tend to have a good calming affect on the rescue dogs that we have dealt with.  Pinch collars on the other hand can damage the trache, and there are documented cases of dogs getting trachea & esophagus damage from them & choke chains.  It would be wonderful if you could work her on a solid collar (we start all our little puppies on them), but she is a little too old to start off on one and you probably won't get the control you want due to her size and not being started younger on it.  If she was 10-12 weeks old and you started on a solid collar, then you could have great success on it.  You are on the right track though taking things slow.  It takes 4 weeks for an adult dog to acclamate to a new home, and normally a shorter period for a younger dog, but a dog who has been through abuse it can take longer.  I always give our abused rescue dogs at least 2 weeks of nothing but learning our routines here before actually teaching them anything.  Just treating them normal and going about your daily business helps to get them to come out of their shell and realize that they aren't going to die at their new home.  It normally takes them two weeks to start coming out and wanting to be social and start interacting more with us once they see how everything works here.  You're in the same situation and need to just go slow with her and give her time.  Who knows what's she's been through, and you have to just go slow with her to build that trust up between the two of you.  Hope this helps,

Dawn