Are you suffering from brain freeze?

It was about 42 degrees outside at 6:45 pm. What better way to observe the mini cold snap than to roll down the back right window of your decade-old Jaguar. We watched with disbelief as your fluffy frou frou dog leaned out of the vehicle as you traveled southbound on 38th Avenue South and crossed South Genesee Street.

Lady, what the hell were you thinking?

If Fluffy flew out of your vehicle, you might not have noticed... until the back right wheel of your so-suburban-chic sedan rolled over your pooch. For somebody who seems bent on making fashionable impressions, you don't seem to realize that bright-red blood stains don't wash out of silky white canine.

For the love of God, people, maintain some sense of restraint when you travel with your dog.

Do you love your dog enough to keep him safe while you drive to the park?

Maybe you thought we over-reacted when we reproached drivers who permitted their dogs to stick their heads out of windows as the vehicles traveled to the park, freeway, Miami. The Seattle Times ran a wire story yesterday that highlighted the dangers of traveling in vehicles with unrestrained pets.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 5,474 people in 2009 were killed in accidents involving distracted drivers. Another 448,000 people were injured. While cellphone usage proved the number-one factor, travel with unrestrained pets represented the numbers involving driver distractions that include unruly children, applying makeup and reading.

Lawmakers in Hawaii made driving with a pet in your lap illegal. Oregon solons are contemplating legislation that would fine drivers who held pets while maneuvering vehicles.

The state of Washington has no such law. Legislators, crippled by massive budget shortfalls, probably won't address pet-safety issues.

I saw a big-wheeled vehicle travel down South Genesee Street. An object suddenly rolled out of the window and onto the pavement. Imagine our surprise when we saw the falling object was a little frou-frou dog. The nonplussed passenger stepped out the vehicle, scooped up the dog like it was a UPS package, and returned to the truck,

Don't wait until lawmakers act -- or after it's too late. Keep your dog safe when you drive.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2014002110_petbelts22.html

Slippery when wet... particularly in truck bed

The adage "when it rains it pours" came true today... and we aren't talking about precipitation. Although AccuWeather.com reports that 0.53 inches of rain fell today, it also rained dog-owner idiots.

While Dog Denizens of Genesee Park (DDGP) has campaigned against people transporting their canines in truck beds, yum-yums continue to play pickup truck roulette with the safety of their dogs. So it shouldn't have came as a surprise when one of our spotters observed your older brown pickup truck traveling eastbound past the intersection of South Genesee Street and 43rd Avenue South around 6:30 pm.

Despite the trickle of rain, the slippery road and the incompetence of Seattle drivers in semi-inclement weather, you kept your golden retriever in the bed of your pickup truck. The strains of the Carrie Underwood tune streaming out of your MP3 player may have distracted you from observing that your golden retriever was on his hind legs and looked like he was on the verge of leaping from the vehicle.

What the hell were you thinking?

The rainy season has started. Put your dog in the pickup cab, or leave her at home. How many times do we have to state what some people think is obvious? Safety first -- particularly when traveling with your best friend. If you won't let your dog ride in the truck cab, leave your dog at home.

The car is "green" but the pavement remains red if the dog hits the pavement

Taking advantage of the rare sunny afternoon, you packed up Sheldon and Sheila the Shih Tzus for a spin through downtown. You popped in your Sky Cries Mary disc in the CD player, and loaded the pups in the Prius. You rolled down the passenger window so the Shih Tzus could sniff the fumes from the gas-using cars. Sheldon and Sheila stood on their back legs and leaned out of the Prius as you rolled down Madison Street and crossed First Avenue around 2:30 pm.

What the hell were you thinking?

Regardless of how "green" your car is, remember that if one of the frou-frou dogs falls out of the hybrid its blood on the pavement is bright red. Even if Sheila survived the traumatic injuries of falling from a moving vehicle, the canine runs the risk of being crushed by a bus or one of the Ducks.

Roll up the window a shade. It wasn't that hot today.

Cruising on the freeway and challenging gravity don't mix for your pit bull

Maybe Braxton the Pit Bull looked rakish as he leaned his head out of your Ford Focus as you traveled along South Bangor Street around noon today. Maybe you thought you were doing the pooch a favor by leaving the inferno of the house and taking him for a spin.

But did you think it was smart to let Braxton to continue traveling with his head sticking out of the car window as you proceeded to go northbound on Interstate 5?

Dude, what the hell were you thinking?

If you live in Seattle, you should know that traffic on I-5 is sketchy and inconsistent -- particularly on the weekends. You could be cruising along at 64 miles an hour -- only to turn the bend near the Swift/Albro exit and hit bumper-to-bumper traffic.

What do you think happens to Braxton if you slam on the brakes to avoid hitting the Lexus ahead of you?

If you can't secure Braxton in your vehicle, leave him at home. He'd have a better chance in the hot house -- where you would undoubtedly leave large quantities of drinking water, right? -- than to fight gravity if he rolls out of your car.

¿qué diablos estaba pensando?

While operating your motor vehicle while texting or failing to use a hands-free device on your phone is a citable offense in the state of Washington, driving with your dog leaning out of the car window remains a crime against common sense.

Our spotter saw you driving southbound on 38th Avenue South near South Spokane Street around quarter after 12 this afternoon. A long-haired chihuahua leaned out of the driver's window as you wheeled your gold-tuned, late 1990s made-in-American sedan through Mount Baker. We couldn't tell if your dog was standing on your lap or some appendage on your interior car door.

What the hell were you thinking?

Your long-haired chihuahua had better pray to God, Buddha, Allah, Krishna... or all of the above... that you regain your good sense to outfit your dog with a car seat or belt when you take the road. Road rash hurts toy breeds as much as it does larger dogs.

Cute as a button... until Scruffy hits the pavement at 30 miles per hour

Sure, Scruffy looked adorable as the breeze flowed through his hair from the rolled-down window of your Prius. You probably thought that Scruffy, sitting in your young son's lap, was secure as your vehicle motored northbound along Rainier Avenue South near South Charles Street around noon today.

Secure... unless you brake suddenly when some jaywalker crosses five lines of traffic. Or secure unless some driver with his ear attached to his HTC Touch Pro rear ends your hatchback with his Yukon Denali. Then Scruffy goes tumbling onto Rainier Avenue South... and into the path of a double-coach #7.

Even more intriguing -- and disturbing -- is that the rear window remained rolled down as you turned west on South Dearborn Street and maneuvered in the lane that enters Interstate 5.

What the hell were you thinking?

"Red asphalt" doesn't look good on anyone, much-less your family dog. Roll up your car window so Scruffy doesn't fall out.

Travel tips from the Department of Common Sense

Apparently local canine fanciers haven't grasped the concept that dog-leaning-out-of-window-of-moving-vehicle is not the haute fashion statement of the warm-weather season. "Safety first" comes somewhere in the priority list after:

• Deciding whether to prepare shrimp ceviché or Cocoa Krisipies treats for the Lost series finale viewing party.
• Scoring tickets to the Seattle Sounders FC match against Argentina's Boca Juniors on the 26th without spending next month's Whole Foods budget. Buying organic vegetables at Safeway or QFC? What the...?
• Exhibiting sympathy for the residents of the Gulf Coast while still driving one's Lexus GX10 or Land Rover LR4.

Enough already.

Your friends at Car Talk have posted a FIDO (Freeway Information for Dog Owners) page on their website with a busload of information (how's that for a mixing your metaphors?) about traveling with your four-legged friends. By the way, Tom and Ray Magliozzi discourage drivers from the dog-leaning-out-of-window-of-moving-vehicle practice, which they say works "right up until the moment that a bee hits you in the eye at 70 mph."

http://www.cartalk.com/content/features/fido/

Dog leaning out of a car window is cool... until you suddenly brake in the "sharrow" lane

Our spotter saw you driving in Mount Baker around 11:40 am today. The left rear window was cranked down. And we saw your dark, middle-sized dog leaning halfway out of the vehicle as you proceeded northbound on 38th Avenue South. (The small frou-frou pooch at the right used for illustration purposes only. But shame on that driver.)

What the hell were you thinking?

One sudden stop in the "sharrow" lane, and your canine would finish a distant second in the Gravity v. Dog contest.

Last year, several of us at the dog park watched as a large, wanna-be monster truck cruised down Genesee. We saw a small object hurtle out of the passenger car window and onto the pavement.

The falling object was a Chihuahua. The truck stopped, and a woman exited the vehicle. Seeing no visible injuries (it's hard for one not trained in medicine to detect internal injuries or concussion), the woman nonchalantly picked up the dog, climbed back in the truck that proceeded down Genesee.

A friend driving down Denny a year ago saw a thirtysomething driving an old Land Rover -- probably with a Sierra Club bumper sticker, so hip and ironic. The back window of the window was rolled halfway down. The woman was so busy listening to her indie tunes that she didn't notice that her lab was halfway out of the car. Caught in the window -- for better or worse -- he couldn't make his complete escape from the vehicle traveling at more than 30 miles per hour.

It's one thing to crack the window open to and let your dog sniff the fresh air. It's another thing to jeopardize your dog's safety by leaving a large enough opening that would allow your dog to fall or jump out of a vehicle. Your Rottweiler wouldn't like road rash any more than you.

Why would you let your dog run unleashed on Genesee?

It was a little after noon today. A dozen dogs were in the entering and exiting process at the Genesee Dog Park.

Imagine our amazement when we saw a dog -- a puppy, actually -- scampering without a leash along the park perimeter on South Genesee Street.

As Jay Leno said to Hugh Grant during the famous 1995 Tonight Show interview after the star of Four Weddings and a Funeral was arrested on solicitation charges: "What the hell were you thinking?"

In the chaos of the comings and goings of the off-leash park, the untethered puppy could have -- and fortunately did not -- run into the path of a car traveling along South Genesee Street. Anybody familiar with the area knows that drivers have lead-foot tendencies when driving on Genesee. If the producers of the Tru TV program Speeders hooked up with the Seattle Police Department and ticketed the offenders, the Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA) would have revenues for a lifetime of poo bags. Does this sound like the place to let your canine go off-leash commando?

No dog owner wants to see any puppy splattered on the pavement on Genesee. The city of Seattle has a mandatory leash law, Seattle Municipal Code 18.12.080(B)(12) (Animals running at large prohibited):

Any person who takes a dog into an off-leash area must have physical control of the dog by means of an adequate leash when entering and leaving the off-leash area and must maintain voice control over the dog at all times while in the off-leash area.

As Paulie Walnuts would say, "Capiche?"