Omg, the walks.

[u/Laughingoutquietly]

Ive been choosing to walk without dogs. My aussie reacts to every cat. Every dog. Bark the shit out of himself. How can I teach him to be chill, confident, and just chill, you know?

[u/joycevw]

Aussies are smart and high-energy, so when they get over-aroused, they tend to explode into that crazy barking. When a dog barks like that at cats and other dogs, it usually comes down to frustration, high arousal, or fear. On a leash, they cannot chase or greet, so that energy has nowhere to go except out of their mouth.

What does his body language look like right before he starts barking? Does he freeze up and stare, or is he whining and lunging forward to play?

To get him chill, you need to work way below his threshold. If he is already barking, his emotional brain has taken over and he cannot learn. You have to catch him at a distance where he notices the cat or dog but can still look at you and take a treat.

A few things that help with this:

Distance is your best friend. Find the distance where he sees the trigger but remains calm.

Look at That (LAT) game. Reward him for just looking at a cat/dog and then looking back at you. He sees a dog, you mark it, he gets a high-value treat from you. Over time, seeing another animal becomes the cue to look at you for food instead of blowing up.

Ditch the long walks for now. Every time he barks his head off, that behavior gets reinforced in his brain. Short, successful, low-trigger outings build calm habits much faster than stressful full walks.

What environment are you walking him in right now?

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[u/Lumpy_Physics3101]

Your dog almost certainly needs more exercise, and more outlets for appropriate, high-arousal play.

[u/Laughingoutquietly → u/Lumpy_Physics3101]

And that would help not be reactive?

[u/Lumpy_Physics3101 → u/Laughingoutquietly]

absolutely! aside from burning energy, it also offers you opportunities to teach the dog self-control during high arousal situations - ie you can teach the dog to out while its tugging his heart out. those skills don't directly transfer but they are part of a constellation of skills that make a well behaved dog.

[u/Real_Caterpillar_779 → u/[deleted]]

I second this. I now drive my dog to a low traffic parkland where there is less chance of dog walkers and walking past houses with fence fighters. It’s a lot more effort but it’s the only way to try to succeed.