Mommy's Journal: Overview
Introduction
I am unsure of how to start this so I will start with the facts.
Fact #1: I have a Puppy. (@toyjoypetal)
Fact #2: I am this Puppy’s Mommy.
She is without a doubt the cutest, sweetest, most loveable critter that I have ever seen and I would do anything to make her happy. I suppose that is the third and most important fact of all.
Fact #3: I love my Puppy and want to make her as happy as possible.
This brings me to the purpose of this journal: to document my attempts to make my Puppy the happiest girl in the entire world as well as brainstorm and find ideas from other handlers and caregivers.
I thankfully have a sizable start on the front of “how to make Puppy happy”. I have had her for over two years now and have gotten pretty good at caring for her (if I may say so myself). Puppy likes sweet things. Puppy likes quiet. Puppy likes cartoons and Youtube videos in the morning. Puppy really likes crispy rice. Puppy loves Mommy. I can, and have, used these and hundreds of other data points to try to outline exactly what makes Puppy happy but it feels like a fool's errand - like trying to draw the sun by following the rays. So I have decided to use science and investigate the girl herself - Puppy.
Puppyology
There is no existing science that can be used to care for my Puppy because she is very, very silly. So silly that she seemingly cannot be studied. If I try to take her height, she is “as tall as Mommy” which I know is false as I look down at the top of her head. If I try to take her measurements, the numbers end up as some variation on “smol” or “beeeeeeg”. No amount of known science can break through how silly my girl is. So I have had to invent a newer, siller science: Puppyology.
The stated goal of this journal is to make Puppy happy and so I shall return to the core components which can either define or influence Puppy happiness. The base elements of Puppy joy are: Love, Treats, Attention, Breeding, Gentleness, and Mommy’s Happiness. To best care for her I must balance and maximize each of these. Every project or series of experiments must begin from these frameworks.
I will update with further entries as I develop the general principles of Puppyology.
Types of Journal Entries
Research Notes - These will be general notes recording my progress and Puppy’s. They will also be less structured than other entries in their compositional style but will hopefully depict the lived experience of Puppy and me best.
Data Posts - Just raw data recorded within a week on my Puppy. Ex: Number of Mommy-Puppy dates, Puppy Part Check-ins, data from breedings, number of accidents, warming notes (size/duration), etc.
Analytical Posts - Breaking down trends in Puppy’s behavior and data. Each analytical post will process a specific data post and tie the numbers into the greater story of Puppy and Mommy.
Blog - No research framing, just Mommy as a person talking about what she is feeling. Likely more introspection and talking about the Mommy half of Mommy-Puppy’s life.
















