You Can’t Teach an Old Lion New Tricks

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In: Communication, Punishment

On Fridays, I work half days. At some point in our emails, one of us usually asks about lunch. Sometimes I pick something up. Sometimes we eat what we have in the house. Sometimes we plan to go out together. Yesterday, I was bringing food home. There were a few packages at the door. Once I open the door, there’s usually a psycho dog on the other side. Plus, this time, I had food.

Sometimes I can keep the psycho dog inside while I get the packages in. Not yesterday. She took off out the front door. She hasn’t run far yet, but there’s always that first time. I got the packages in while yelling for her to come in. I heard Lion say something from the bedroom, but I thought he was calling the dog. So I’m yelling and trying to get the dog in. And Lion is saying something. Again, I think he’s calling the dog.

Suddenly, he screams my name. Now I’m stuck between catching the dog and helping Lion with whatever he’s screaming about. I chose Lion. He wanted to say hello. He wondered why I hadn’t come in to say hello. I told him the dog was outside. He wondered why that was a problem. He thought she was out the back door. Why would I care if she was out the back door?

I finally wrangled the dog and got our food on a tray to bring into the bedroom. I asked Lion why he would scream like that just because I hadn’t said hello. He said I always say hello, so he wondered what was going on.

Initially, I was upset because he didn’t think I would say hello if I could. With all my yelling at the dog, couldn’t he surmise there was a problem? Have I ever ignored him like that without having a good reason? I usually even leave groceries on the counter so I can say hello before I put things away. Later on, I was upset because we just had this discussion last week. Why was he yelling from another room? This time he heard me yelling at the dog. He didn’t even sit up in bed. It’s so frustrating.

Lion said his buns were still a little sore last night. I think they’ll be a lot sorer tonight. At least he’ll be yelling for a reason.

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1 Comment

  1. He was yelling because he wanted to see you and connect with you, but by all means punish him for that. You might want to consider what you are trying to discourage and how happy you’ll be if you succeed.

    Of course, this is moot since by now you’ve already beaten him.

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