Barking on walks... IDK?

[kjc]

This has gone beyond nerve-wracking.

She barks a little before I put her harness on her. Then we get out the door... and walk up to the gate, just a few tiny excitement barks... not a problem.

Then through the parking area to the road, where it starts. Bark, bark, bark. Spins around in circles, looks this way then that way, then stops, then starts walking again, barking the whole time. No one is out, no other dogs in sight.

Sometimes we walk with our neighbor Jackie and her dog, Sammy, a Peke. At first she barked at them, but after a few times (4) she settled down and just did her 'air' barking. She knows where each dog lives in the neighborhood, and will stop at each yard and bark, even when the dog is not in sight. If the dog is in sight, fence fighting ensues.

She barks at lawn mowers but not cars. When we get to the part of the road that goes through the woods, she's either too worn out to bark, or maybe relaxes more, IDK. She walks down and back through the woods not barking, but starts again when we get to the houses. From the start of the walk, the road has houses on both sides. She is afraid to walk on manhole covers, avoids them like the plague. She has nipped at my leg and grabbed Sammie's tail out of frustration when a dog or dogs are in sight (in their yards).

She barked at my neighbors the other day on our return. I stopped and allowed her to walk up to them. She was good, walked up and hesitantly sniffed at them and allowed them to pet her. Then she was fine as we stood and chatted. As we left, no barking, but as we live next door, we didn't have far to go. In the yard and back in the house, she's fine.

I have tried numerous techniques to get her to stop. She only stops for a little bit when I pick her up. I've tried reversing when she barks, standing still, then proceeding when she's quiet, half-figure eights (to occupy her mind a bit), etc.

She seems happy to be out and about, like she has to announce it to the world.

Well, this is what I thought until yesterday.

We started our walk as usual and met up with Jackie and Sammie. Started down the road, and I see a neighbor with their Rottie out on their lawn with no leash. The Rottie has gone through multiple surgeries so I don't know how well she's moving, and she's a young dog. We've seen her in her yard before, but I went ahead and picked up my dog as we approached their yard.

The Rottie came over to have a sniff, and Finnie barked a bit. The Rottie barked, then Finnie... then the Rottie let out this growl that put me on guard, and I was glad I had Finnie in my arms. It got a bit scary and the Rottie's owners were calling her but of course it took a few minutes (forever to me) for the Rottie to walk away. The neighbor said 'Oh, she just wants to play!' Well, maybe, but not with my dog. I continued down the street with Finny in my arms. Then I let her down, and kept walking.

Finnie seemed hyper after that, she was wildly looking from one side to the other, like she's looking for something, darting/walking all around me.
Then it dawned on me. I think she's afraid of being attacked. I'm watching her as we walked on, and the more I thought about it and watched her movement, the more I believe this to be her problem. Also, I think she's acting out when she's barking and confrontational, and she's that way bc if it's going to happen, she'll start it before something can sneak up on her and get her. Instead of trying to correct her, I switched up and tried to verbally reassure her, and she seemed to calm down a bit.

I'm still not sure, and just wonder what you all think about this....

Thanks in advance...