Don't walk a fearful or reactive dog
Sit in one place and watch the world go by
A lot of people think you need to walk your dog, but if your dog is fearful and reactive, then walking them could be doing more harm than good. For fearful, reactive dogs, moving through the environment is often too stimulating. It doesn't build confidence, it undermines it.
Instead, find a quiet place to sit with your dog and watch the world go by.
Simply sitting in one place will give your dog the time to get used to the environment. When you sit in place, the environment changes gradually. When you walk your dog, the whole environment is changing with every step, and it's just too much, too fast, for some dogs.
Train your dog and give them the confidence they need to enjoy walks BEFORE you walk them.
If you really want to help your dog, bring their dinner with you, and hand-feed it to them one piece at a time as you sit in one place. Feed them the occasional piece of food at random, and then, whenever something new appears in the environment, whether that's a person, a dog, a squirrel, a garbage truck, or whatever, offer your dog lots of pieces of food, one after the other, until the stimulus disappears.
Your dog will learn that these things in the environment are nothing to be scared of, and if your dog looks to you when something appears in the environment, they get a treat. That's the default behavior you want your dog to learn: If there's something interesting in the environment, look at me. Once you've got your dog's attention, it's so much easier to manage their behavior.
And talk to your dog! Especially if your dog is too anxious to take food because of something in the environment, then talk to your dog. Use a calm, relaxed voice to tell them that there's nothing to be afraid of. If they are barking and lunging, just use your voice to try to calm them down. If they stop barking and lunging for half a second, mark it. Tell them Good! That's much better, thank you for being brave! Amp up the praise when they are behaving nicely.
If you want to make this super easy, start this process at home. Hand-feed your dog their dinner in your kitchen, then your living room, then your back yard. Then try it on your front step, where you can actually see people and dogs walk by. Once your dog is comfortable there, you can move to the sidewalk. Bring a camping chair and take a seat and wait. Next you can move halfway down the block and set your chair up there. Eventually, you can do this exercise in progressively more active and interesting environments. So long as you and your dog stay in place, and you provide the right, calming feedback, your dog will get more comfortable and confident as time goes by, and as they receive more treats.
Eventually, your dog will have the confidence to walk through active and exciting environments, and they'll know that if they are uncomfortable about anything, they just need to look at you for reassurance.
