Why I Dont Punish Immediately

Lion had the idea of using the training collar as both a reward and punishment device. A shock would be for punishment. A vibration would be for a reward. I decided it was worth a try. And try it we did.

Both Saturday and Sunday we were out shopping. When Lion did something nice, like remembering something we had forgotten to put on the list, or lifting something heavy, or finding something he knew I’d like, he got a vibration. He’s usually on his best behavior when he’s wearing the training collar so nothing warranted a shock. I also insisted he get a particular item he was interested in as a sort of a reward. Overall I think it went well.

When we got home yesterday and he disappeared into the bedroom to get naked, things changed. Sometimes we get something that he just has to play with: a new gadget, a piece of mail with an interesting website that he just has to check out, etc. Yesterday he just disappeared. I was left to put the groceries away by myself. I’ve told him in the past that I hate when he goes off to play with something that could have waited. I know it’s not his strong suit to put things away. I know he’s not good with the Jenga of the refrigerator or the freezer. But there were things to go downstairs and I created a garbage bag full of things that were dead or dying when I cleaned out the refrigerator to make room for the new food.

I even tried the training collar as I walked into the bedroom, but he’d already taken it off when he got naked. So Lion has something on his punishment list for tonight. Swats it is. Now I’ll let you in on a little secret. The reason I don’t whomp Lion at the time of the infraction is that I don’t want to swat him when I’m angry. If I set a precedent to whomp him the second he spills food on himself, then I’d be bound to whomp him when he pisses me off like yesterday. If I whomp him when he pisses me off, I don’t think there would be any waiting between swats. I wouldn’t have the willpower to stop myself to let him get accustomed to the pain. I’d want to give him the ten rapid-fire-hard-as-I-can swats. And then he’d squirm and I’d have to give him more for moving.

I don’t remember what my sons did one day, but it really got me angry. They were sitting at the kitchen table and I told them that they should go to their room because I wanted to hit them and if I started hitting, I wasn’t sure I could stop. They looked at each other and then at me and decided I was serious enough that they didn’t want to push their luck. Aside from the occasional spanking when they were very little, I didn’t ever hit them, but something was about to snap and I didn’t want them around to feel the brunt of it.

Lion thinks he wants me to take out my aggression on him. He’s wrong. There’s a reason I used to go to batting cages. It’s much safer to knock the hell out of a baseball than it is to knock the hell out of a person. I don’t ever want to hit Lion in anger. I need some time to calm down and get things into perspective. Punishment nights are very beneficial in that regard. However, if he’d been wearing the training collar, I would have zapped him quite a few times yesterday.