I'll gladly answer your question, Mamashack, but my dog and I are still a work in process as well. I learned a lot after I found this great dog forum, when I did a search about a problem I had with my dog! I'll PM you the dog forum, since I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post it on here. You will not regret having a look there!
I'm working on teaching our dog "leave it". It works somewhat at home when she sees triggers like seeing other dogs pass by the house through the window. On walks it is still hard for her, and I try to avoid passing by other dogs by either changing direction, crossing the street or stepping off the path!!!
The way you teach "leave it" is you sit with your dog and have yummy treats. You put one treat on the floor and tell her leave it. When she looks at you, you give her a treat. You move the treat on the floor closer as you see her understand the concept to make it more tempting, and continue treating her when she looks either away from the treat, at you or anything else but the treat. This will probably have to be done over the course of a few weeks with daily exercises.
It seems like you are already doing great getting your dog to focus on you when she is confronted by strangers. You can add to that a "treat party"! A "treat party" is when she is confronted by her trigger you quickly drop treats in front of her, just let it rain treats. They will have to be high value treats for it to work, like smelly cheese, boiled pieces of chicken, cooked liver.....It will counter condition her into associating good things happening to her when she is close to her trigger.
Setting your dog up to meet strangers or other dogs is a great way to do these exercises too. You start by treating her for looking at the trigger and then at you. If she reacts with barking then the distance is too close, you will have to increase the distance between you and the trigger to where she is comfortable and relaxed. Keep treating her, making the encounter positive. With many of those encounters successfully behind you shorten the distance, keep treating......I hope this makes sense!?
Seeing that your dog is already doing quite well, I think she will learn this quite quickly. For most it can take months, and even years, like in the case of our little rescue!
Oh, and do a search on Kiko Pups on you-tube. These are great little videos to learn how to train your dog in positive ways!
