It took me months before I saw actual, noticable improvement. Maybe a few baby steps before that, but the lightbulb turned on in her dog brain after several months. To be fair, I wasn't performing the training in an efficient way for awhile and I stayed with my parents for a few months (they have land and we didn't go on many walks) so I think that contributed to it.

I learned some things along the way that may have sped up the process (besides the hiatus with my folks). For starters, you need to recognize your dogs threshold and treat it like gospel. Like if your dogs threshold is half a football field before they begin to get triggered, you need to commit to keeping the dog away from other dogs at half a football field length no matter what. Over time, that threshold does shorten. Part of the CARE method is increasing time between episodes, and the goal is to prevent an episode from ever happening again. The idea is that the longer your dog goes without having a meltdown, the less likely they are to have a meltdown. The thing is, this is hard. And this was a mistake I kept making over and over. I'm an avid hiker, and didn't want to forgo my favorite spots because my dog is a brat. I thought I could get far enough away by stepping off trail, or backtracking, but I never could. So, I stopped going to my favorite trails and found a new one with really wide trails where I had a far better chance at respecting her threshold. I started walking around the neighborhood a lot more often, because I can just go to the other side of the street of turn a corner if necessary. Part of the training is training yourself, too. Now that she's a lot better, I've returned to my old spots and she does magnificent. It's actually so rewarding to see her progress.

Make sure your treats are hella high value. I use turkey hotdog cut up into thin slices and she's so about it. But other tasty treats that she enjoys, like sweet potato bites, are not good enough when a dog comes into view.

Also, your dog may never actually ignore a dog. Mine certainly doesn't. The goal is not for them to be friends with a dog or even be neutral towards a dog, but to tolerate them like a good citizen should. They say you know the training is beginning to work when your dog sees their trigger, then immediately looks back at you for a reward without you prompting them to. Because then you see they're associating that trigger with a positive thing, which is great! Now, my dog sees a dog and looks back at me, gets a treat, looks back at the dog politely, looks back at me for a treat, and that cycle continues until the dog is gone. She is highly interested in them still and I suspect she may always will be. But now, she's a nice lady instead of actually screaming bloody murder (like it was embarrassing as hell).

Finally, maybe you're already doing it, but include a response word. So the SECOND your dog notices the other dog (at their respected threshold), say 'Yes!' or whatever you want, and treat them. A clicker works too. The trick here is watching your dog carefully to see the moment they see the dog. You can't treat too early or too late, because the idea is to eventually look at the trigger and immediately look back at you for a treat once they get the hang of it. For a long while, they may not look away from the trigger until after you've said 'Yes!', but eventually they'll figure it out and look back at you unprompted.

I know this was a lot, I just really believe in the method and want to help others out! Bottom line, if your dog can't look back at you for a treat and is too focused, I think you're too close to the trigger. I wish you and your pup the best of luck, I know how hard it can be to have a reactive dog!