Helping a nervous dog

My staffy has always been very confident, apart from the first few weeks after I adopted him. I could take him out in the dark, he wasn't afraid of fireworks, he was no problem at all. I've had him just over 3 years now.
2 months ago, driving back from a lovely holiday, we had a car crash. Buster had been in the car for 2 hours and was asleep when I unfortunately hit a car in front that had suddenly hit his brakes on a dual carriageway. Luckily none of us were seriously hurt and Buster seemed fine, although very quiet. He was reluctant to get out of the car although he must have at least wanted a wee. He sat quietly until the police came, and then was quiet all the way home.
Naturally I asked the vet to check him over and he felt that, apart from the shock, Buster was fine.
Since then Buster has changed. He is really nervous around loud noises. He is so jumpy if some-one is walking behind us, day or night. He will happily go up to people though for a fuss in the street...which he normally gets.
Tonight some man came out of an alley as we were walking past. It made me jump as well as Buster to be honest. but Buster actually went for the man. He started barking and tried jumping up at him and, for the first time ever, I honestly thought he might bite him. The man went crazy at me and was visibly shaking...as was I.
I don't know what to do for the best. I will naturally try to avoid walking past places at night where people could 'surprise' us.
I didn't reprimand him, i tried to be encouraging and reassuring to Buster. The man walked off after a lot of abuse but then I don't blame him. He must have been scared. Buster is a big dog.
Any advice would be gratefully received. I love my dog to pieces. He is my life and I just want to help him.

Thank you for reading this essay :-)

Oh bless him that would be a real shock for any dog! Just wondering, have you had any other changes to your life/his routine since the accident? Or has everything remained the same and you are sure that it was the accident that set it all off? I understand the noise phobia, but the people fear seems a little less relevant to the car crash?

I also own a dog that is reactive to people, and if she has an aggressive display towards someone I never reassure or encourage her afterwards, as this just enforces that the behaviour was correct. Personally I would try to go completely back to basics with your training, perhaps work on a "watch me" command and learn to pick up on his body language before he reacts and ask to him to sit and watch you until the situation is diffused, and then reward. He does need to know that reacting that way to people isn't right though, and I have found a strong "NO" and then ignore is enough to tell Biscuit that it isn't right, but I also heavily (and safely) socialize her in all sorts of situations to get her past her fear, her re-activity was also mainly at night when I first adopted her, but thanks to the "watch me" and lots of obedience training she will now walk past men without a blink of an eyelid, she is always going to be fearful of people to an extent, but it is now under control, and she knows other ways to react rather than using aggression

Thank you for replying Rachel. I can honestly say that I have been wracking my brain trying to think of anything else that could have caused this. There has been no other changes at all. He is certainly unsettled though. He is absolutely fine with people in the street when walking past them...if they are walking towards him. He will often go up to people stood at the bus stop for a fuss. He is known around here and gets plenty of attention because of his friendly nature.
It is only when people come up behind him or walk out of gardens that he gets scared. His bum goes down to the floor as he jumps forward and that is when I try to reassure him. This time was different in the fact that he barked aggressively and tried to jump up at the poor man. When the man was shouting at me though he just sat quietly by my side so it isn't even if he was protecting me. It just makes no sense as he was never like it before.
I wonder if I should take him out more at night to give him confidence and, like you say, go back to basics.
Thanks again :-)

I'd also look into getting a thundershirt. These can be very soothing for a dog & may help with any anxiety issues he has.

Have you thought about using an Adaptil collar, or maybe some Adaptil spray? These release soothing pheramones which again, may help with anxiety.

Thank you Caryll. I hadn't heard of thundershirts before. I might just try that out

A friend of mine has a thundershirt for her nervous dog and found that it helped a lot!! Does seem like he is being startled poor thing, sounds like a lovely soppy boy

When he's showing signs of fear (as you said tucking his bum up etc) although it's SO hard it would really be best not to reassure him at all, just keep walking tall as if nothing is wrong and let him know that there's nothing to worry about by acting as everything's fine and nothing is out of the ordinary. If he's really acting up, ask him to sit, get his full attention on you and when he is focused on you and calm, then reward.

I would build up the socializing in real baby steps, and lots of rewards for calm behaviour whenever he would usually react. Once he is coping well in daylight hours, you could start moving onto night time. I hope that makes sense? These are all things that I have found work best with my dog, but if you find that the behaviour is getting worse and he has been checked over health wise it might be helpful to talk to a professional? Aggression is such a complicated subject and should never really be advised on without seeing it first! Hope you both start to feel a little more confident soon

I can also recommend the adaptil spray, we use it for Rocky when on long car journeys.

When you were in the car accident did you shout out when the crash happened ? This may have caused a reaction in your dog, and may have unsettled his trust in you, this is just guess work I'm no expert at all. I would also go back to basics with the training taking things very slowly. Plenty of games with him too, this will also build up his confidence in you again (if this is the issue).

Link for adaptil spray:
http://www.medicanimal.com/setSessionLocale/product?product_id=103098&newLocale=en_GB&gclid=CN7zsLGgu7MCFefMtAodMg4A5Q

Hi Kathy, to be honest the accident was a blur. It happened so quickly. We were all lucky not to have been injured badly. He was reluctant to get back in the car afterwards (it was just about driveable to get us home but was then written off) but has been in my new car since and been ok
I don't think he has an issue with me, he is always lying on me or next to me on the sofa, trying to get in my bed and seeking a lot of cuddles...but then he has always been a really loving dog so that hasn't really changed. We spend 20 mins every night, after I've got home from work and finished tea, having a play with his toys. Then we go out for his night walk. I also take him out in the morning in daylight but his reaction is the same when he can't see some-one or thing coming.
I am going to try the coat and then see about the spray. I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply

I really hope you can things sorted again, a link below to the Thundershirt, hope this helps:

http://www.thundershirt.com/