diff --git a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/jestSetup/jest-setup.js b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/jestSetup/jest-setup.js
index 992dbe430d..57bae298da 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/jestSetup/jest-setup.js
+++ b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/jestSetup/jest-setup.js
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ jest.mock('react-native-gesture-handler',
       PanMock.onFinalize = getDefaultMockedHandler('onFinalize');
       PanMock.activateAfterLongPress = getDefaultMockedHandler('activateAfterLongPress');
       PanMock.enabled = getDefaultMockedHandler('enabled');
+      PanMock.minDistance = getDefaultMockedHandler('minDistance');
       PanMock.hitSlop = getDefaultMockedHandler('hitSlop');
       PanMock.onTouchesMove = getDefaultMockedHandler('onTouchesMove');
       PanMock.prepare = jest.fn();
diff --git a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/__tests__/index.new.spec.tsx b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/__tests__/index.new.spec.tsx
index 8ea792235a..89727dfdb4 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/__tests__/index.new.spec.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/__tests__/index.new.spec.tsx
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React, {useRef, useState, useEffect, useCallback} from 'react';
 import {render, act} from '@testing-library/react-native';
+import * as Reanimated from 'react-native-reanimated';
 import Dialog, {DialogProps} from '../index';
 import {DialogDriver} from '../Dialog.driver.new';
 import View from '../../../components/view';
@@ -109,3 +110,76 @@ describe('Dialog sanity checks', () => {
     expect(dialogDriver.isVisible()).toBeFalsy();
   });
 });
+
+// Mirrors the non-exported constants in index.tsx.
+const WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS = 400;
+const WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 8;
+
+// Mounted already `visible` so open/close and the watchdog share one render. Reanimated's mock
+// useSharedValue returns a new value per call (the real one is ref-backed for the component's
+// lifetime), so a post-mount `visible` flip would have them reading different values.
+describe('Dialog open animation watchdog', () => {
+  afterEach(() => {
+    jest.useRealTimers();
+    jest.restoreAllMocks();
+  });
+
+  it('recovers a dialog that never opens, then stops once it reaches full visibility', () => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers();
+    const withSpringSpy = jest.spyOn(Reanimated, 'withSpring');
+    const {dialogDriver} = getDriver(<TestCase1 visible/>);
+    expect(dialogDriver.isVisible()).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(withSpringSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+
+    // Stuck at 0 since mount - the watchdog opens it.
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS);
+    });
+    expect(withSpringSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    // Reached 1, so the watchdog clears itself for good.
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS * (WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS + 3));
+    });
+    expect(withSpringSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+
+  it('keeps retrying while the open animation stays frozen, then permanently gives up at the attempt cap', () => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers();
+    // open() always lands on the same value, so visibility never advances: the frozen-open failure.
+    const withSpringSpy = jest.spyOn(Reanimated, 'withSpring').mockReturnValue(0.5);
+    getDriver(<TestCase1 visible/>);
+
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS * (WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS + 3));
+    });
+    const attemptsMade = withSpringSpy.mock.calls.length;
+    expect(attemptsMade).toBeGreaterThan(1);
+    expect(attemptsMade).toBeLessThanOrEqual(WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS + 1);
+
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS * 5);
+    });
+    // No growth long after the cap: permanently given up, not paused.
+    expect(withSpringSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(attemptsMade);
+  });
+
+  it('does not re-open while the dialog is closing (visibility decreasing)', () => {
+    jest.useFakeTimers();
+    const withSpringSpy = jest.spyOn(Reanimated, 'withSpring');
+    // Drive visibility down as an in-progress close() would, without the completion callback -
+    // so modalVisibility stays true, matching a close that is still animating.
+    const withTimingSpy = jest.spyOn(Reanimated, 'withTiming').mockReturnValue(-0.1);
+    const {dialogDriver} = getDriver(<TestCase1 visible/>);
+
+    act(() => {
+      dialogDriver.pressOnBackground();
+    });
+    expect(withTimingSpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+
+    act(() => {
+      jest.advanceTimersByTime(WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS * 3);
+    });
+    expect(withSpringSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/index.tsx b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/index.tsx
index 0e943f33cb..bc6a5395a5 100644
--- a/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/react-native-ui-lib/src/components/dialog/index.tsx
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ import {DialogProps, DialogDirections, DialogDirectionsEnum, DialogHeaderProps}
 export {DialogProps, DialogDirections, DialogDirectionsEnum, DialogHeaderProps};
 
 const THRESHOLD_VELOCITY = 750;
+// Longer than a healthy open (~240ms), so a normal open always wins and the watchdog no-ops.
+const OPEN_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS = 400;
+const OPEN_WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS = 8;
 
 export interface DialogStatics {
   directions: typeof DialogDirectionsEnum;
@@ -123,6 +126,34 @@ const Dialog = (props: DialogProps, ref: ForwardedRef<DialogImperativeMethods>)
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
   }, [modalVisibility, wasMeasured]);
 
+  // Recovers a dialog whose open animation never completes. On Android with RN 0.79 the Modal's
+  // Fabric state can start 0x0 (facebook/react-native#51048, fixed in RN 0.81), so the dialog
+  // either never opens - `open()` above is gated on `wasMeasured`, which never flips - or opens
+  // part-way and freezes. Armed on `modalVisibility` alone, since gating on measurement is the
+  // bug being worked around. Re-opens a frozen animation only: `close()` animates while
+  // `modalVisibility` is still true, so a decreasing value is a dismiss in progress, not a strand.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!modalVisibility) {
+      return;
+    }
+    let attempts = 0;
+    let previous = visibility.value;
+    const interval = setInterval(() => {
+      const current = visibility.value;
+      attempts += 1;
+      if (current >= 1 || current < previous || attempts > OPEN_WATCHDOG_MAX_ATTEMPTS) {
+        clearInterval(interval);
+        return;
+      }
+      if (current === previous) {
+        open();
+      }
+      previous = current;
+    }, OPEN_WATCHDOG_INTERVAL_MS);
+    return () => clearInterval(interval);
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
+  }, [modalVisibility]);
+
   const alignmentStyle = useMemo(() => {
     return {flex: 1, alignItems: 'center', ...extractAlignmentsValues(props)};
     // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/exhaustive-deps
@@ -190,6 +221,10 @@ const Dialog = (props: DialogProps, ref: ForwardedRef<DialogImperativeMethods>)
   };
 
   const panGesture = Gesture.Pan()
+    // MOBAPP-2994: require a deliberate drag before the pan engages. On Android/Fabric the residual
+    // touch from a gesture-handler trigger (e.g. List.Item) otherwise leaks into this freshly-mounted
+    // pan and drives `visibility` mid-open, interrupting the open spring so the sheet rests part-way.
+    .minDistance(10)
     .onStart(event => {
       initialTranslation.value =
         getTranslationReverseInterpolation(isVertical ? event.translationY : event.translationX) - visibility.value;