Kip's Story: How Far We've Come

Deb from Busy Pawz
1 day ago
6 min read

Dog on leash pulling and reacting on a walk — reactive dog behaviour explained

I was going through old photos and video footage for a website update when I came across some pictures of Kip from when he first arrived with us four years ago. I could barely remember the dog he was. Not because I'd forgotten the struggles — I remember those well enough — but because the dog snoozing in my office today feels so different to the dog who first walked through our front door.

Kip arrived as a very shutdown dog. He couldn't really function in everyday life. For the first three or four months he was either on a long line or in his crate because if he spooked he would clear the fence and run. He was completely overwhelmed by the world and had no idea how to cope with it. Those early months were hard, for him and for us.

Now, four years later, he is a completely different dog. Not a perfect dog — Kip still has his struggles and we're still working through things together — but the difference between then and now is incredible. Looking through those old photos reminded me of something I think a lot of dog owners forget, especially when they're right in the middle of a behaviour struggle.

We forget how far we've come.

Progress doesn't always feel like progress

When you're living with your dog every day, the changes are often so gradual that you don't notice them happening. The walk that used to end in a meltdown now mostly doesn't. The dog who couldn't settle when visitors came over is now snoozing on their bed while people chat in the lounge room. The dog who used to bark at absolutely everything now lets half of those things go. Because those improvements happen slowly, they become your new normal, and before long you've forgotten just how different things used to be.

As soon as one thing improves, our attention naturally shifts to whatever still feels hard. It's human nature. We notice the barking that still happens, not the twenty times it didn't. We focus on the reaction that caught us by surprise, not the ten situations our dog handled beautifully. Every now and then, it's worth taking a step back and asking yourself where things started and where they are now.

Every dog's journey looks different. Some dogs start out like Kip did — scared, overwhelmed, and struggling to cope with everyday life. Others might be the puppy who launched themselves at every person they saw and now walks past strangers without a second glance. Or the dog who couldn't get out the front door without shutting down and now happily walks around the block. Or the dog who barked at absolutely everything and has learned that the world isn't quite as alarming as it once seemed.

The starting points are different. The challenges are different. But the progress is still there, even when it doesn't feel like it.

Why We Miss the Progress

I think part of the reason we forget how far we've come is that our brains naturally focus on what still needs work. If your dog has ten calm walks and one difficult one, chances are you'll spend the evening thinking about the difficult walk. If they ignore nine dogs and react to the tenth, it's usually the reaction that sticks in your mind.

It's not because we're negative people. It's just that problems grab our attention more easily than things going well. The things that are working quietly in the background tend to fade into the wallpaper, while the struggles stand out.

I see this with clients all the time. They'll tell me they're feeling discouraged because their dog reacted on a walk that morning, and when we start talking I'll realise that six months ago they couldn't even get out the front gate. The reaction feels big because it happened today, but the progress feels small because it's happened gradually over weeks or months.

Sometimes we're so focused on the one thing that went wrong that we stop noticing all the things that are going right. That doesn't mean we ignore the challenges or pretend everything is perfect. It just means we give the wins a bit of attention too.

Because if we only ever measure progress by what still needs fixing, we'll never feel like we're getting anywhere.

A Note on Kip

Kip is still a work in progress, and I think that's important to say because social media can sometimes make it look like there comes a point where everything is fixed and life becomes easy. In reality, that's rarely how life with dogs works, especially when they've come from difficult backgrounds.

There are still things we're navigating together. There are still situations that Kip finds hard, and there are still days where I wish things were easier than they are. But that's very different to where we started. Four years ago, everyday life felt like a challenge. Today, there are countless things Kip does without a second thought that once would have felt completely impossible.

I think that's another trap dog owners can fall into. We assume progress means the struggles disappear entirely, and when they don't, it can feel like we're failing. But progress isn't about never having difficult days again. It's about those difficult days becoming less frequent, less intense, or easier to move through when they do happen.

Kip still has difficult days. The difference is that those difficult days no longer define our entire life together. They're part of the picture, but they're no longer the whole picture.

When I look at those old photos and then look at the dog sleeping beside me today, I don't see a dog who has been "fixed." I see a dog who has learned to trust, learned to cope, and learned that the world isn't quite as scary as he once thought. And if I'm honest, I probably don't stop and acknowledge often enough how proud that makes me feel.

Proud of him for how hard he's worked. Proud of the trust he's built. Proud of the dog he's become.

And proud of us too. Not because we got everything right, but because we kept showing up on the days when it felt like nothing was changing, even though it was.

Bonus Tip: Keep a Record

One of the easiest ways to see progress is to keep some sort of record of your journey together.

If you're a pen-and-paper person, keep a simple journal. Jot down what walks were like, what you were struggling with, and the little wins that happened along the way. It doesn't need to be detailed — a few notes here and there is enough.

If you're anything like me and your phone is full of dog photos, create a dedicated folder for your dog instead. Save photos, videos, and even screenshots of notes or messages about things you're working on. The beauty of doing it on your phone is that the dates are already there for you.

When things feel hard, scrolling back through old photos and videos can be incredibly eye-opening. Sometimes the progress isn't obvious when you're living it every day, but when you compare where your dog is now to where they were six months, a year, or even a few years ago, the changes can be remarkable.

And on the days when it feels like nothing is changing, those reminders can be exactly what you need.

Final Thoughts

Living with dogs isn't a straight line. There will be good weeks, hard weeks, progress, setbacks, and sometimes a bit of both at the same time. That's completely normal.

If you're in the thick of it right now, take a moment to look back. Find the old photos. Think about where things were six months ago, twelve months ago, or when your dog first came home. Think about the things that felt impossible back then that now feel routine.

And if you've been having a tough time lately, give yourself and your dog a little credit.

You're probably both doing better than you think.

Thanks for reading, and as always, throw your dog a treat from us! 🐾

Deb & the Busy Pawz Crew xo