Labrador scared of cars

[Monkeythree]

I have just re-homed a Labrador. Picked him up on Saturday and he is great. In good condition, very obedient and good natured. Approx 3-4 years old.

He walks very well on the lead when he is in the park or anywhere away from the road but when he is on the pavement he is very nervous, especially when cars come past and he pulls like hell on the lead as if he just wants to get away from the road ASAP.

Because I don't have a lot of history about him, I have no idea if he might have had a trauma in the past or perhaps was just never exposed to the sights and sounds of cars when he was a puppy.

My therapy at the moment is to just gently break him in with a little bit of exposure each day and lots of reassurance each time a car comes past. Is there anything else I can do to reduce his distress? Avoiding cars for the rest of life isn't practical so I would like to at least improve his nervousness. Distracting him with his ball seems to help.

BTW he is fine with jumping in the boot of my car and doesn't appear distressed when travelling in the car. It's just cars passing him when he's walking he doesn't like.

Any sugestions welcome and appreciated.

[Monkeythree]

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to drop the reasssurng bit for a few days and see if just gradually increasing his exposure will work. I had him out today and he was quite distracted by me holding the ball which seemed to help,

Cheers,
M3