Anxiety around taking dog for a walk

I adopted a dog about 1.5 years ago and he can worry about certain things / people / dogs which results in him barking, growling and pulling. I’ve noticed lots of thoughts that are starting to have an impact on my confidence when taking him out, I’m now starting to avoid it, over think it (trying to account for every eventuality, what time is best, what time are we likely to bump into …), making excuses and essentially just talking myself out of it. On the positive side I’m proud that I’ve been asking my partner for help with the dog walks instead, although I haven’t told him why. The dog doesn’t seem phased by the change but I feel guilty that I’m letting him down and that we’re undoing the achievements we’ve made by not being out for walks together. We’re seeing a dog trainer to try and help with his reaction to certain things but I want to feel more confident and procrastinate less about taking him out. I think the thoughts are centred around what people think about me; they think I’m a bad dog owner, they think I’m doing a bad job, but its also quite general, people are judging me, they won’t like me, they think I’m a bad person. There are also some thoughts like I’m letting my dog down, I can’t control the situation, if something happens to him it will be my fault .
My levelling up this month is about believing in myself and taking myself seriously and been wondering how this fits. I started an intentional model

C: Taking the dog for a walk
T:
F: Self Belief
S: Embodied, upright, strong
A: Take myself seriously
A: Believe in myself
R:

What would someone who takes themselves seriously and believes in themselves do? What are thoughts that someone who believed in themselves would have?

I also read something recently about how if you’ve always avoided being the one who causes a scene, then having a reactive dog might feel like your worst fear, but its also where you start learning that your worth isn’t tied to anyone else’s comfort.

C: Taking the dog for a walk
T: My worth is not tied to anyone elses comfort
F: Grounded, confident, deserving

T: We deserve to take up space

T: We have as much right to be here as anyone else

I’m responsible for my dog and my actions.

It also said if you’ve built your identity around being easy and agreeable then having a dog who challenges that, might be the thing that teaches you to take up space, speak up and stop disappearing.

Answer:

It sounds like you’ve identified some shitty first draft thoughts, and some other possible ideas that you could replace them with or prioritize in your brain. What is your ultimate goal with walking your dog? What is the low bar for success? What is the high bar? Think Good, Better, Best outcomes for this. Let’s start there and see how we can use the thoughts you’ve already created to help you get closer to achieving your goal.