when we first got our sam, he found all cars, but especially big ones, traumatic. after walks along the traffic-free river, we moved to nearly deserted night streets, then residential areas, and then, eventually, long walks by continuous traffic, such as in the road we live by.
all in all, a successful treatment. sam no longer thinks traffic is a big deal. then, the week before christmas, we open the door to carollers -- one fairly bad caroller, actually -- and before anyone can stop him, he has streaked out of the door, and right onto the road. into traffic.
a car breaks but sam is hit midleap, in the middle of the pedestrian crossing. everything is awful. the husband tries to keep him from running into more cars, i try to get him into the house. onlookers try to give advice, the car driver tries to take the blame, while sam refuses to move and turns into a wriggly, biting beast. well, at least he's not paralysed. bleeding from our hands, we finally manage to get him onto a chain and lure him into the house, where he slinks away, once again a traumatised dog.
luckily for us, the driver did break on time, and sam's injuries are mainly external. our wounds are deeper, but are healing now. and sam, oddly enough, is still confident about traffic. we're developing a strict routine of him always sitting down before we go outside, and will be looking into gates and fences for the forecourt.
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