Puppy Socialization Project: The Diary of Jack, the Little Black Objectivist Puppy

Puppy Socialization Project

This is the diary I am keeping day by day, during the eight weeks I spend socializing my new puppy.

I hope that you will learn along with me, as I undertake to truly and completely socialize a puppy.

I've thrown the word "Objectivist" into the mix, because I am the founder of the philosophy of Christian Objectivism (treatise available). And to me, socialization is about nothing other than turning your pup into an Objectivist.

An Objectivist puppy? WHAT?

What I mean is that socialization is what brings your puppy into the state of knowing reality AS IT IS--the facts of reality, both pleasant and unpleasant--and learning to simply ACCEPT reality, rather than inventing an idealized version of reality and spending one's life shocked when the actual facts don't match up to what's in your head.

A dog who is not socialized builds up an idealized idea of what the world is like. Her idea is terribly simplistic, limited, and primitive. Her idea of who populates the world includes only the people she knows well--no other people. And her idea of what the world contains is limited to only the inside of her home and its sounds and smells--no other places, sounds, or smells.

Consequently, when she does venture out and experience new things, these new things challenge her idealized ideas and create a conflict. The dog then feels fear because she is surprised and not prepared to process the new things.

And nothing creates fear like encountering the unknown suddenly and unprepared.

So I hope to show my puppy the facts of reality as it is--the objective, actual facts. That is why I say that my puppy will be an Objectivist when we are finished in 8 weeks, if all goes well.

In my next post, I will introduce us to you!