Fear of Outside

Question
I adopted a rescue dog two days ago.  He is around 1 year old.  He's well behaved.  The only concern I have is that he is terrified to go outside.  He came from a foster home in rural Mississippi and I live in a suburb of Philadelphia.  I'm sure that all the noise is contributing to this problem.  How do I train the dog to go outside?  We can't even go for a walk because he's terrified to go outside.

Thank you for your help.

Answer
I would start with working near an open window.  Remain clam and collected, do not use a sweet voice tone or pet, as this can reinforce the fear by rewarding that state of mind.

There are some CD's available with everyday sounds, like car engines, horns, motorbikes, children playing, screaming and crying etc.  Using this at a very low volume, whilst rewarding only the clam state and ignoring any fear, and slowly increase the volume.

There are is also a product called a Thunder vest that may be useful in this situation.  There are also collars that use pheromones to calm dogs and you can use the Bach Flower Rescue Remedies, that will assist you in getting the dog used to the outside noise and smells.

Most important is for you to remain calm and use a normal tone of voice and do not pet or stroke the dog whilst it is displaying fear, and only reward when you see him start to settle.