I’m sure many of you are wondering what in the heck I’m talking about – snarl or sniff…and traffic tickets.  I promise, after a little explanation, I’ll get to the meat of what I mean.  Please be patient and continue reading.

Last week, my sister and I had to move our mother into an assisted living facility.  THAT experience is a blog topic for another day.  However, in making that move, we had to decide what to do with our mother’s dog, Cody.  Several years ago, Mom rescued Cody from the local county animal shelter.  Since Mom is an independent woman, for the most part, it was just her and Cody for most days.

In the early days, Mom was able to walk Cody herself.  But as she became more frail she felt she couldn’t handle her dog.  The problem was that Cody wasn’t socialized to other dogs or animals.  At Mom’s assisted living location residents are allowed to live with their dogs – but only if they can be good citizens.  This was a cause for concern.  Mom had told us that when she used to walk Cody, other dog owners would cross the street because Cody would snarl and bark and lunge on his leash in an attempt to get to the other dogs.  Obviously, this is not the behavior of a ‘model citizen’.   So something had to be done.

We hired a dog trainer to teach us to socialize Cody to other animals – particularly dogs.  Making a long story shorter…what Heather, (the dog trainer) told us was that Cody just didn’t know what to do when he came across another dog.  He didn’t know how to behave appropriately.

Heather further explained that dogs, when they meet, introduce themselves by sniffing the hind-quarters of the other dog.  If a dog meets another dog who doesn’t know what to do, often the uneducated dog ‘crowds’ the dog he’s trying to meet.  This makes the other dog uneasy, and snarling barking may ensue or even a bite or a fight.  Now…how does all of this relate to a traffic ticket?

When a police officer pulls you over for the purpose of issuing a citation, just like our dogs above, the officer wants to meet you.  When the officer approaches your car, do you snarl and bark loudly?

“Why in the he** are you stopping ME?”

“Didn’t you see that other guy going faster than I was?”
“The light was yellow as*-hole!”
“You’re pulling me over because…(insert whatever phrase comes to mind)”

Or, do you sniff to find out more about the officer who’s coming to your car.

“Yes, officer, I have my driver’s license right here.  I need to reach into my glove box to get my proof of insurance.  Is that okay?”
“I’m sorry officer.  I didn’t realize I was going so fast.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.  I thought the light was yellow.”
“I’m glad you’re telling me about my burnt out headlight – otherwise I wouldn’t have known.”

While there is no guarantee that by ‘sniffing’ the officer first you’re not going to get a citation, I CAN predict if you snarl at the officer there is a much larger chance you’ll be giving your autograph to the officer on a four-copy form – a form requiring you pay an expensive fine.

Until next time,

KMA367