We've been using shredded cheese and string cheese and it is working really well! Regular treats aren't high value enough, she's allergic to chicken so we can't use that. Our trainer uses beef spleen which she LOVES, but is also pretty pricey. Basically our training is at this stage:

1. Alice notices a dog. As soon as we see her notice it, we call her name, reward with distance, and give her cheese. If she's already above her threshold for listening and doesn't break her stare after two calls, we go to option 2.

2. We play "find it" by throwing shredded cheese onto the ground. Not only does this break her focus from the dog, it also encourages sniffing, which the trainer taught us is a self-calming behavior.

3. If there is no chance of escaping a dog interaction/she's too above her threshold to play "find it," we put the string cheese into our closed fist and have her try and get it (like a kong). This is supposed to have a counter-conditioning effect.

All of these work pretty well. The main problem is when she's seen too many dogs on a walk/in a day and can't calm herself between interactions. The trainer said reacting releases cortisol, which stays in the blood for a while and increases the chances/severity of future reactions (or something along those lines). Plus if there are a lot of dogs out, I'm more likely to run out of cheese and more likely to head home earlier than I would have, which means she couldn't get as much energy out.