Kill Switch, that's what we call em! My soon to be exarseface hubby has always put one in our cars too! I guess he flipped my switch for the last time, huh? I have a switch in a hidden place that I have to flip before I can even try to start my car....no one would ever find it, or guess that it was a switch!

And you honestly don't think experienced car thieves know about these locking methods and have any number of devices to help them inside in a short time? This is all they do - study all the ways to lock all kinds of vehicles and then find easy ways to unlock or bypass them via reverse engineering. I myself know a guy who brags he can get into anything on the street in under two minutes that isn't Secret Service/CIA/military encrypted. He has "special skills" as he creates and outfits vehicles with special locking devices for certain cars. He made a special device for me for my truck but then as I got to know him and his actual business, I was amazed to know the lengths certain individuals take to prevent easy entry into their vehicles by thieves or others. One is a personal fine jeweler to the very wealthy here in Dallas, more than a few are Fortune 500 CEO's, any number of professional athletes with zillion dollar vehicles - and others - you can use your imagination. But he can get in them all even after he's done outfitting them and he has the devices to do it very quickly when the car owner is locked out for one reason or another and to trouble-shoot. He says he's only one of many "talented" men who can quickly open anything except he does his work legally and for considerable sums of money. But he says any good, experienced car thief can do what he does as they are mostly all familiar with the extremely intricate locking systems he and others build and install. Believe me, they are out there and able to get in darn fast.

I never said they could not do it, just it would take longer than normal and would be a lot more noticeable if somebody was breaking in.... Unless somehow you managed to figure out how to make the right key for the door because the locks are not connected to the alarm for just that reason, alarms are easy to get past.

One of the trucks has the horn hooked up so if you turn the key without the kill switch on it blows the air horn... Ooh how I LOVE taking that one to the tire shop and not mentioning I have to start it for them :D

Two minutes for about the toughest system with alarms, etc. That's why I'm so darn nervous when Tibbe is in the truck, thinking I just have a regular old locking system! One of those guys can be in my truck or any regular entry system before you can take a second breath. Hard to believe anything man can devise to keep most out, some can slide into in no time. And I don't think those types would be all that kind to a little Yorkie they took just on a lark.

I have installed so many alarms over the years that I pretty much know any and every way to get past them which is also why I never keep my door locks hooked up to them, the only thing you can do these days is just make them have to work longer or louder to get in. Which is why all of ours also have the kill switches in them.. Granted as long as its not the Charger or Impala hardtop they can steal the others and I would be happy with the insurance check lol

Well keep that Guinney safe as there are guys out there that know all the tricks of installing with sophisticated readers, access to internal systems in moments, have small separate power supplies to bypass electrical switches of every kind and know all of the kill switch tricks of mass placements and have all the ways around multiple alarms. They can disarm those posthaste. In the very expensive cars, they even bypass those fuel-line destroying devices given a bit of time while the car is parked in valet parking! But if you are gone 20 mins. in a local setting and they drive up in a locksmith van with the proper-looking signage and a "concerned woman" to look stressed standing there as they work on your vehicle, nobody will give it a second thought.

They break into vehicles and take dog just for practice and grins. If someone comes out and start running toward them, they just skedaddle and no police are going to give chase or anything over attempted car/dog theft because they know the van is long gone by the time they get there, they are not going to risk life or their vehicle over a car or dog, they know the van looks totally different with no signs, maybe has new tape striping, etc, has no signs and a different license plate within a short time and in some cases, is in another vehicle. Apparently the really good car thieves practice locally on dry runs getting dogs and throwaway vehicles to better their times and hone their getaway skills. Course in the big haul, all they have to do is get the vehicle around the corner and drive up into a large van or truck and sometimes they have to haul it up w/ a little wench if the fuel line gets destroyed on the way there or they push it a ways. They know they have some time before the police can get called and arrive, find out details and maybe look for them a little if it's a VIP - which they usually will not.

Just don't get too overconfident and think you're ever really going to keep those types out if you're gone very long. We got to keep Guinness safe!

Well, I hope this lady finds her little dog as it probably has a far better life with her than with the thieves or some lab or something where they dump it for a few dollars.

So true! When my son drives into Flint, Michigan to buy car parts, etc., he always drives the Jeep Wrangler. He'll leave it parked with a window or two zipped out & the doors unlocked. He just makes sure there is nothing in vehicle. He says it's better than having them destroy your car windows, locks, door hinges, etc. trying to jimmy their way into your locked car.

Just wanted to mention the death of that Yorkie by the Bull Dog. I usually defend the Pit Bull breed when people start piling on that breed when there is some sort of disaster. I was reading more about this particular Bull Dog. It was actually bought for the boy friend. I know nothing about it's background. But there is a lot of irresponsible breeding going on these days with many breeds. Some people want a bred like that as a symbol of their "manhood" and do things to make it aggressive. The Bull Dog can be an aggressive breed and if bred wrong it can create further problems. We will never know what really happened but it was bad enough that they decided to re home the Bull Dog. Breeds that have fighting in their background have to be chosen very carefully especially since we have breeders that actually try to bring out the aggressive nature of these breeds. A Yorkie is dead and I doubt it was done in play. It may have started out as play but it must have progressed to the point that it got out of hand. Don't want to get on a soap box. I realize that no breed is all bad. It is the human factor that usually causes the problems.

I didn't read the article as I can barely stand to read of a dog death like that. I understood it was a bulldog(what some mislabel an "English" bulldog), not a Pitbull type. Bulldogs are generally laidback, gentle and can't jump vertically worth a darn and though they love to play when challeneged and are hardheaded sometimes, they are usually totally non-dog-aggressive and not ever bred for dogfighting, though their breed was used to create the so-called "Pitbull" years back, I understand. The Pitbull can be very dog aggressive and very athletic in its abilities. But I thought the killer dog in this case was just a regular old-fashioned, bow-legged, curly-tailed bulldog with the underbite and cute little "tusks", big, sad eyes.

The dog was a Bull Dog. It looked pretty much like what we in this country refer to as a Bull Dog. Don't know about the "English" part. The Bull Dog was not bred for typical fighting but was used for the sport of pinning a bull. Men would bet on the dogs much as they do today with fighting dogs only the poor Bull Dog was set against actual bulls to fight. It was eventually outlawed in England but in this country they were trained to hold a bulls snout long enough for someone to get a rope around it. It is my understanding that it was this "Bull Dog" that was bred to a Pug that eventually led to the small stout Bull Dog we know today. They are very strong and many maintain the dominant personality of the original Bull Dog. I'm sure there are many very nice ones but just as with the Pit Bull there are exceptions that can prove lethal. Thankfully they are not as widely bred as what is known as the Pit Bull today.
As I said we will never know what actually happened but I do not believe that most dogs are natural born killers unless they are intentionally bred that way or have a genetic defect. Some dogs are made aggressive by humans. If that dog was known to play roughly enough that it could harm another dog it should not have been left alone with a Yorkie.

:D I know what you mean and I was a tad grumpy last night... The few times Guinness has been left in the truck has been something like running into the gas station for a drink or to pay for gas so at tops we will say 10 min's watching the truck from the store window, doors locked and all.. Since everywhere we go men are coming up looking at the truck taking pictures of the truck or just standing there waiting for us to come back to ask questions about the truck we are always on guard even if Guinness is not with us due to it might be a carjacking or robbery attempt. Any other vehicle no he would never be left in a parking lot alone no mater what!!! Guinness has been in tons of gas stations and fast food places between here and Knoxville when we do the drive alone, if that place ask us to leave and says he can not go I side we just make a mental note never to stop there again. :D

Oeew, you must have a special truck!

Why can't people just be decent and leave folks and their little dogs be????? Think of all the crud we all go through just to try to stay safe! And keep our doggies safe. I was out walking Tibbe today and a van slowed down as they passed us and almost stopped and I almost froze. Got my phone out and up to my ear, ready to call for help when I finally saw the woman looking back to see Tibbe and wave. We waved back and she went on. It was a nice moment. And of course I thought - "What if she circles back around and they jump out and take him over my dead body?" and we hurried up and walked home almost running like idiots. The van didn't come back of course. But that's the mindset you get into reading and hearing of so much junk going on, isn't it!!!

It's a very rare truck to see in person and when little boys see it they always could up and ask if my truck is a transformer, I love those moments because they are so cute. Men of course want to know engine size, gas, speed and the famous how much does that thing cost :rolleyes: There are only two of them around here, ours and my ex stepbrother has a red one.

Sounds super cool. One day you'll have to post a picture of your bad boy truck! The neighbor down the way has a Hummer and I swear the two of us can't fit on this street when he's coming and I'm going his truck is so wide. That thing is huge. My brother drives a Hummer at work a lot of the time and he says they are bumpy but fun to drive.