Reactive toward other dogs on walks

[Tanya and IsaBella]

We have a somewhat reactive on walks 5 Mos old mini ald. Today during our noon time walk she saw a couple of huskies also on their noon time walk across the street and began to bark, this in turn caused them to bark. OK no big deal. However one of the ladies who apparently lives in the house we were walking past yelled out her front door "DO YOU MIND MY DAUGHTER IS TAKING A NAP"? Hmm does she seriously thing pups come with a on/ off switch? How would you react to this?

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

Just to keep the peace in the neighborhood, I probably would have apologized .
And while, no, dogs do not have an on and off switch, you can teach her not to bark when she sees other dogs. Enzo is past that stage now, but she would do the same thing. The easiest thing for me to do with her was to put her in a sit stay and give her the command to " leave it", and let the other dog pass. This way, she was no" threat" to the other passing dog, keeping everyone ( dog) calm. As time progressed, we could continue our walk, me still giving her the " leave it" command. No barking, no problems.
We actually passed a small,yapping, growling dog today....Enzo behaved perfectly, staying at my side and not a peep out of her.

[Marie and Hoka]

While yes we want to have a dog that does no bark....

Unless you were walking the dog between 9pm and 7am... seriously? Does she also yell at the garbage man, the lawn care people, etc?

I would still apologize and moe quickly on, but would so WANT to ask sarcastically if her windows close! Also if she yelled at you, does that not wake her daughter more???

[DJ & Chance]

She was no doubt tired and on a short fuse.  I would do a quick apology and move on.  

Leash reactive behavior will only get worse, not better, as your pup grows up without working on it on every single walk. Chance is now 2 and still is leash reactive although I can control this much better now than I could a year ago.

I focus on keeping him calm.  If his is excited and pulling hard on the leash, we go back to my yard, calm down with some basic commands, and start again.  When other dogs on leash come our way, I put him in a sit stay and distract him with treats or toys--anything to keep him from locking in a stare as the dogs pass.