One of the pitfalls of being the “behavior lady” is that everyone (E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E) you know gets put on a behavior plan at some point. And they work even more poorly at home than at work.

Im Augenblick, I’ve got my longtime partner, George, on a BIP. I have had George on a BIP since I met him in 1999. His target behaviors right now address his narcissism and his towel-folding (seriously…who folds a towel with the selvage edge exposed?). I expect that I’ll be able to exit him from the towel-folding goal at our next progress monitoring, but the goal addressing narcissism is going to take a while. The last time I told him he was being full of himself, he proudly exclaimed “Ich denke, hier kann sich meine fast obsessive Planung als nützlich erweisen? I’m the BEST narcissist!” then narrowed his eyes and growled “Stop SPED-ing me.” Seufzer.

Our dog, Meemaw, is also on a BIP. She’s a pug, and her condition comes with some behavioral issues inherent to the breed. Im Augenblick, Meemaw’s primary target behaviors are learning how to “dog” instead of “Menschen” and going to her crate without being dragged like a Roman prisoner being thrown into the Colosseum’s lion pit.

Noch einmal, my data tells me that success is eluding her. When presented with a tug toy, Meemaw engages in dogging behaviors (such as pulling at the toy with her teeth and chasing the toy) for an average duration of 153 seconds in the living room setting based on 574 direct observations before removing herself to the sofa to watch Law and Order SVU reruns and eat Cheetos the kids have spilled.

As for the crate…she’s sleeping in the chair in our bedroom as I type this. She and George are both snoring. But that’s another goal for another day.

#enraged2engaged #teacherhumor