Special Snowflake Stories

[nutraxfornerves]

What fun! Let's block traffic on a busy freeway and show off some stunt driving, film it, and post it on YouTube and Facebook for all to see!

For some reason, the Highway Patrol is not amused.

Sideshow stunt shuts down I-880 traffic in Oakland

[doodlemor]

I'm reminded of a time I had a cop tailgating me late at night. Really, seriously tailgating me in a way that was incredibly intimidating and unsafe. I wanted very badly to slam on my brakes and see just how far that "car in the rear is always to blame" thing would take me. My car was an absolute beast, it would've been fine, and we weren't going fast enough to cause major injury to anything but the cop's front end. Luckily I was smart enough to decide to turn off into a handy housing development and let the cop get ahead of me.

I gave myself a few minutes to calm down and the cop time to get far ahead of me and then went back to driving home.  I came around a corner to a stop sign and there was the cop, stopped at the sign to my left, pointing the way I was headed. I waited, since he had the right of way, and he just sat there for several seconds revving his engine. I finally made my turn and he started following me again, still too close but not dangerously so. He finally let me go when we got to a major road. I really should've reported that idiot, but it wouldn't have done any good.

If it happens again, call 911 when you pull off into a lighted area and report a suspicious vehicle pretending to be law enforcement, or if you are not alone have your passenger call.

On a very scary note, there was a genuine state trooper in Florida who was a serial killer.  I remember reading the book, but I don't remember whether it was by Ann Rule or not.  One woman was left alone because she was very obviously pregnant when she got out of her car to give him her license.

[Morrigan]

Gerard Schaefer.  Martin County, Florida.  Florida Sheriff's Deputy.  He was the serial killer.

Or, there's Tim Harris who was Florida State trooper who killed 'just' one person.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jun/23/local-lawman-who-investigated-some-of-the-most/

[lyssabrittany]

I'm not sure whether I was the SS in this situation...

BG: I have two dogs, a beagle named Charlie and a staffy named Buster. I walk them for 30 minutes everyday around out local area, normally on the same route. They are friendly, happy dogs who are not vicious or violent in anyway. They don't socialise a lot with other dogs but they aren't aggressive - they just like saying hello and sniffing butts

Story: The other day I was taking Charlie and Buster for their walk. I walked past a friend's house and he happened to be out mowing his lawn. He stopped and we chatted. I held the dogs close to my body, with them sitting down. I didn't notice a couple walking up on the other side of the road with a small dog, until I felt Charlie tug on my arm. I gave her the sharp tug back, which is what I usually do to discipline them (they normally settle down straight away). Unfortunately, with the angle she was at, she slipped out of her collar and ran across the road. I immediately freaked out and ran across following her, completely forgetting I had another dog attached to my arm. As I got to Charlie, the man started screaming obscenities at me. I slowed down to maintain control of Buster. He and his partner were stamping their feet, screaming at me, kicking at my dog and yanking their dog up by its lead. My dog had been calmly trotting around their dog and getting a good sniff, with no aggression whatsoever, however their behaviour was starting to scare her and she was getting anxious. My friend took Buster and I tried to grab Charlie. Unfortunately, because the couple was making such a fuss, it was really difficult to grab her. I was apologising the whole time. When I finally managed to grab her, I apologised profusely. At this point, the man turned and screamed in my face that I was a bad pet owner and should be ashamed of myself, accompanied by lots of obscenities. Thankfully my friend told the guy to back off and eventually he did. I was so shaken that I had to stop for a few minutes to calm down.

It was the first time she had ever slipped out of her collar, she wasn't aggressive and honestly, they scared her more than she scared their dog. I also felt terrible for their dog, as they kept yanking it up straight by its lead - it kept choking. I would have thought that the logical thing to do would have been to pick their dog up and walk away so I could grab my dog - that's what I've done in similar situations.

I'm wondering though, was I an SS because my dog slipped out of its lead? Maybe I deserved their reaction?

[AngelicGamer]

lyssa - you are so not the one to blame.  Those other people are the huge snowflakes.  If there is such a worry about other dogs for the couple with a small dog, they should have picked their dog up as soon as they saw Charlie making a beeline.  Their reaction was way over the top.  I hope you never have to deal with them again.

[figee]

Re the above. I own two leash reactive dogs who can be dangerous to small dogs and are intolerant to rude dogs, including those making a beeline straight for them. They are controlled, leashed and muzzled at all times. I am responsible for their behavior. But if your dog did that to me, I'd be incredibly annoyed. Because just because your dog is friendly, I don't know that, will not trust your word on it, and you don't know my dogs so by losing your dog, you put my dogs at risk, your dog at risk and make me responsible for your dog. That's not ok.

You then run over with another dog who I don't know. You've already lost control of one dog, and you want to add another to the mix.

I do react aggressively, because I've had 'friendly' off leash dogs attempt to attack my two, have seen mine attempt to attack others (and I do mean attack, not just discipline though they've done that too) and have heard too many stories of leashed dogs be injured or killed by others.

So, although I think his swearing at you afterwards, I do think you were responsible. You don't know what history they have with other dogs. And your dog should be under control, including having reliable recall.

Picking the small dog up in that situation doesn't always work and can make it worse. You don't know if the small dog is aggressive or not but sticking hands into that situation is a nice way to get bit. And for my dogs, a small dog lifted up becomes more like prey. Not good. This leaves aside the fact that they shouldn't have to.

Having said that, I don't think you're a SS. You're a dog owner and things go wrong. We all make mistakes.

[Ambrosia Hino]

Having said that, I don't think you're a SS. You're a dog owner and things go wrong. We all make mistakes.

This. Its not like you intentionally let your dog loose. No one, 2 or 4-footed was hurt, so all is well, but I can understand them freaking when strange dogs are running towards them and their dog. I think they did over-react, especially with the obsenities and in-your-face screaming, though.

[mmswm]

The obscenities were definitely over the top, but I can totally see why somebody might freak out when a strange dogs is running towards them. 

That said, I think that you can probably take this situation and learn from it.  I have an "emergency recall" command I use with my dogs, when the normal recall doesn't work.  I don't use it often, but this might have been a situation I'd have used it it.  My dogs will drop EVERYTHING, no matter what, when I pull out the emergency recall.  Here's a link that describes what it is and one way to train your dog with it.

http://dogs.about.com/od/dogtraining/a/emergency_recall.htm

[Shoo]

I'm wondering though, was I an SS because my dog slipped out of its lead? Maybe I deserved their reaction?

You're not a SS, but neither are the couple whom your dog approached.  They had absolutely no way of knowing your dog was friendly, and for all anybody knows, they and their dog have been attacked before, so they are frightened when strange dogs approach them unleashed.  Their reaction was extreme, but not completely uncalled for.  I think the swearing and screaming was over the top, however and they should have apologized for that.

Your dog should absolutely not have been able to slip out of his collar.  Beagles have little heads and can easily get out of a regular collar, and I do think you should have known that.  A harness would be better for a beagle.  Lessons learned and all that.

[goldilocks]

What fun! Let's block traffic on a busy freeway and show off some stunt driving, film it, and post it on YouTube and Facebook for all to see!

For some reason, the Highway Patrol is not amused.

Sideshow stunt shuts down I-880 traffic in Oakland

What about the group of bikers who blocked the LA freeway so one of them could propose to his girlfriend?   I would not have been amused.  From what I understand, LA traffic is bad enough without something like this happening.  And why do people feel that proposals are a public thing - in my opinion, it's a private moment between 2 adults, and doesn't require a crowd.

[Mental Magpie]

I'm wondering though, was I an SS because my dog slipped out of its lead? Maybe I deserved their reaction?

You're not a SS, but neither are the couple whom your dog approached.  They had absolutely no way of knowing your dog was friendly, and for all anybody knows, they and their dog have been attacked before, so they are frightened when strange dogs approach them unleashed.  Their reaction was extreme, but not completely uncalled for.  I think the swearing and screaming was over the top, however and they should have apologized for that.

Your dog should absolutely not have been able to slip out of his collar.  Beagles have little heads and can easily get out of a regular collar, and I do think you should have known that.  A harness would be better for a beagle.  Lessons learned and all that.

Dogs should be able to slip their collars if they pull hard enough. This is to prevent them accidentally hanging themselves. 

[Morrigan]

I'm wondering though, was I an SS because my dog slipped out of its lead? Maybe I deserved their reaction?

You're not a SS, but neither are the couple whom your dog approached.  They had absolutely no way of knowing your dog was friendly, and for all anybody knows, they and their dog have been attacked before, so they are frightened when strange dogs approach them unleashed.  Their reaction was extreme, but not completely uncalled for.  I think the swearing and screaming was over the top, however and they should have apologized for that.

Your dog should absolutely not have been able to slip out of his collar.  Beagles have little heads and can easily get out of a regular collar, and I do think you should have known that.  A harness would be better for a beagle.  Lessons learned and all that.

Dogs should be able to slip their collars if they pull hard enough. This is to prevent them accidentally hanging themselves.

I use a choke chain and my Shelties definitely can NOT slip their collars.  Part of that's due to the hair, though.

[Dr. F.]

A new one for me last night - SS Idontwannapayus.

I was leaving work right at about 5 last night, and pulled up to pay to get out of the parking garage (it's underground). I was second in line, right behind two guys in a red truck. The management of the parking garage has just changed, and we have new folks in the kiosk, so getting out has been taking longer recently. So, I wasn't too surprised when it took a couple minutes for the guys to pay.

But then it went on. And on. And on. I ended up putting my car in park, because by that time there were at least 3 other cars behind me and there was no where for me to go. The line wrapped completely around the building. At one point, the woman in the kiosk got out and sort of feebly flapped her hands at the people in line, but you couldn't see the end of the line at that point, and there wasn't anywhere for anyone to go. I asked her what was going on, but got no answer.

After another 5 minutes, she finally just waved the guys in the red truck through. I asked what happened when I was paying and she said that they just refused to pay. With the number of people backed up behind them, there wasn't a thing she could do, so she ended up paying their fee out of her pocket.

The guys in the truck were laughing and looking smug, knowing that they had the parking lady in a bind.

[Mental Magpie]

A new one for me last night - SS Idontwannapayus.

I was leaving work right at about 5 last night, and pulled up to pay to get out of the parking garage (it's underground). I was second in line, right behind two guys in a red truck. The management of the parking garage has just changed, and we have new folks in the kiosk, so getting out has been taking longer recently. So, I wasn't too surprised when it took a couple minutes for the guys to pay.

But then it went on. And on. And on. I ended up putting my car in park, because by that time there were at least 3 other cars behind me and there was no where for me to go. The line wrapped completely around the building. At one point, the woman in the kiosk got out and sort of feebly flapped her hands at the people in line, but you couldn't see the end of the line at that point, and there wasn't anywhere for anyone to go. I asked her what was going on, but got no answer.

After another 5 minutes, she finally just waved the guys in the red truck through. I asked what happened when I was paying and she said that they just refused to pay. With the number of people backed up behind them, there wasn't a thing she could do, so she ended up paying their fee out of her pocket.

The guys in the truck were laughing and looking smug, knowing that they had the parking lady in a bind.

They need a new policy for if that happens again... which it will because they have learned they can get away with it.

[Piratelvr1121]

Like a camera that can take a picture of their license plate so the bill can be sent to their home.  I'd love to see the looks on their faces when they'd get the bill after thinking they got away without paying up.