About this episode

This episode discusses the non-linear nature of progress with reactive or anxious dogs and offers steps to regain footing after setbacks.

A good stretch suddenly going wrong doesn’t mean your progress wasn’t real — progress with a nervous system is never a straight line. It feels so confusing and worrying because your brain weighs the hard moment more heavily than the good weeks that came before it. The fix isn’t to re-evaluate everything; it’s to name the dip accurately and let the good weeks still count. If your dog has been doing really well and then suddenly gone backwards, and you're wondering why it happened or whether the progress was ever real — this episode is for you. Today we're talking about why progress with a reactive or anxious dog is never a straight line, and why your dog suddenly going backwards after weeks of doing well doesn't mean the work wasn't working. In Episode 53 of The Mindful Dog Parent, I share a specific stretch of good weeks with Bonnie that was interrupted by a full-intensity reaction — and the fear I had that I'd imagined the progress entirely. This episode explains the non-linear nature of nervous system change, and gives you four steps for getting your footing back after a setback like this. This episode follows naturally from Episode 31 (which covers a single bad day) — this one…

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• When You Lose Your Patience With Your Dog (And the Guilt That Follows) · June 23, 2026 · 21 min

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