I have never tried to reabilitate a lab. animal , but with my abused ones . I found that SLOW is the way to go . your friend should get the animal to trust him first of all , he should show that he will protect the dog from harm. then short walks out side when the least amount of contact with traffic or people . if the dog is curious let him investagate. then slowly ad more stimuli be added. It can take a long time, I worked on 2 chows 2 years before any one but family could be in the house with them, and then only when introduced and when a family member was in the room. Your freind I hope has the patience of Job cuz thats what it takes to get these guys semi normal (some never do)
A good book I don't know if it"s still in print ( I used it till I lost it in a flood) is "how to live with a nerotic dog" I don't remeber the author but it helped me tons. Most is still in my head. Slow and Never rush ahead till total confidence is there. Good luck and you can e-mail me at [email protected] if you need any tips. Corinna