Control Your Anxiety Like Your Dog | @caroline-cavanagh | The Anxiety Alchemist

18 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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Caroline Cavanagh uses the behavior of her two high‑maintenance dogs to illustrate how anxiety works in humans. When a doorbell rings, the dogs become frantic because the unknown visitor represents a perceived risk. She explains that anxiety is a natural response to uncertainty, but because she trusts that the person at the door is harmless, she can intervene with a simple verbal command—"girls, enough!"—to calm them. She draws a direct parallel, encouraging viewers to recognize anxiety as a natural signal, then apply a confident self‑command or mindset to regulate their own anxiety in similar situations.

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I think there is a lot of overlap between dogs and anxiety. I've got 2 quite high-maintenance dogs, and if someone knocks at my doorbell, the 2 of them go berserk, and they're in a state of anxiety because they don't know who's the other side of the door. So they have a natural response, as we all do. The unknown is a source of risk, therefore anxiety is the natural response. However, I'm confident that the person on the other side of the door is not going to cause us any harm, so when I just say, girls, enough! They calm down. I control my dogs. So learn to control your anxiety too.