Naked Lion

lion's butt
This is my normal view of Lion’s butt. He’s been following his “naked in the house” rule for years now.

Lion has written in the past about the rule that he must be naked when he’s home. Actually it was a rule he imposed on his former bottom and suggested that he should do it too. While I get the benefit of seeing him naked (and less laundry), it was not a rule I came up with. Even though I told him a long time ago that he’s able to wear clothes if he’s cold, he is reluctant to put on more than a t-shirt.

I’m assuming a part of that reluctance is that he feels he is non-compliant if he puts on clothes. As with most of the rules, if he has a reason for breaking them I will probably be understanding. For example, if he drops ice cubes because the dog knocked him over, I would be more likely to yell at the dog than to punish Lion. If he’s cold I’d rather he put on clothes than turn the thermostat up. And, in a sense, if I’ve told him he can wear clothes in the event he’s cold and he chooses to ignore those instructions, isn’t he really breaking one rule to avoid breaking another rule? To me, giving him the option to be dressed was a common sense issue. Do I actually have to make a rule about him putting on clothes?

OK. So here is the amended rule. Lion must be naked while at home with the following exceptions:
1) If there are other people in the house or if people are expected to come to the house.
2) If he is going outdoors for any reason.
3) If being naked is dangerous (i.e. cooking, starting a fire, etc.)
4) If he is cold.
5) If I tell him he may be clothed.
6) Any other common sense reason I have not thought of.

To be fair, the only change is that I can tell him to be clothed. I’m just hoping that putting it in writing will encourage him to see that he’s not breaking the rules to be warm. I guess I should be happy that he adheres to the rule so well. It’s unlikely that Lion will forget to get undressed. He’s done it for years now. It’s a normal part of coming home. I was considering doing away with the rule because we’re heading into the colder months now, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react. For consistency I will just amend it rather than cancel it.