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First, breathe and give yourself a break - it's not really your fault. There is more you can do to help your dog with this, but this is about who your dog is under certain circumstances. You CAN help her with this and it's taking you a bit of time to figure it out. But that puts you miles ahead of all the folks who don't try and figure such things out.

There are dogs in the world who would not be the least bit affected by your tensing up on the leash - they'd still be straining to say HI! So, this is a cycle, but not your fault - I hope you believe that.

Sounds like these are tight quarters where you can't really avoid these folks?

The key with these sorts of things is always working at distance on worrisome things and then gradually decreasing that distance as the dog can handle it.

Also, if your dog is already firing at the people, it's too late to reel her back in - your effort has to be concentrated on getting your dogs attention before she fires.

So, I'm being hypothetical, as I don't know your set up - but - you're going out the door - the offending neighbors are going by in close proximity - if you see it before your dog does - back up and when you get your dog's attention - reward. Let the neighbors go before you proceed.

Or - you're going out, the neighbors go by again, you see the dog start to turn a head or an ear, you back up as far away as you can and reward - go back in the house if you have to and reward heavily - or run back up the steps and reward there - whatever your setup is.

You are seeking to find a rewardable moment BEFORE the dog fires.

The foundation work for the above is rewarding the dog for head turns on light collar pulses - if you have The My Smart Puppy Book, it's all in there.

You'll have to think about the lay of the land where you live and what your possible avenues of retreat are so that you can gain distance and reward the dog before it fires.

Let us know how it's going.

Patt