What does the back of YOUR vehicle look like?
By Gina Spadafori
June 2, 2008
Walking around the parking lot of the dog show in Pasadena yesterday, I was as always struck by our “gang signs” — bumper stickers, magnets, license-plate covers and, of course, vanity license plates.
To the right is a picture of what you can find on the back of my ‘98 Plymouth Voyager minivan. I also have a pair of dog silhouette magnets and a bumper-sticker for Bark magazine.
Of course, in this craziness I’m in good company. My favorite “capture” in the parking lot of the dog show was a white Toyota Sienna van with magnets and a license plate that made it no doubt — without actually saying so — that the van was a DogCar for border collies. (Well, that and it was parked next to the agility rings!)
Check it out over on DogCars.com and see why.
And if you have a mind to, send our DogCars.com lead blogger Keith Turner a picture of your vehicle, with bumper sticker, tags, license plates or whatever it is that lets others know where you’re coming from, in DogCar-ese. He’ll put it on the DogCars.com blog.
On the way up I-5 coming home yesterday, I even spotted vanity plates referring to Dutch Rabbits. I don’t remember the exact lettering — something like DTCHRBT — but the van also had a bumper sticker that proclaimed them to be fans of the black-and-white lagomorph.
“RDBLYVN”, stands for red bully van. The “red” had to be in there because my hubby does not like red cars but I do so it perversely had to be included. Drives people insane trying to figure it out.
I also have a My Dog Votes sticker on there currently
The other van is a Ford Canine Traveller conversion, not getting alot of use right now due to gas prices (V10 engine), it boasts the appropriate license plate MACROVN
Comment by JenniferJ — June 2, 2008 @ 9:04 pm
I’m not a big fan of bumper stickers but I have bone-shaped magnet on the back of my Forester that says, “I Love my Mutt.”
Comment by Lori — June 3, 2008 @ 5:42 am
I have GOOD-DGZ plates and a wag more bark less magnet.
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — June 3, 2008 @ 7:09 am
I have a rescue magnet and a sticker that says “Pit Bull Junkie” from Bad Rap.
Comment by katie — June 3, 2008 @ 10:12 am
No license plate credos or affiliations. But, several years ago, something came over me and I went online and ordered two vinyl, cling, cut-outs of Great Danes (one in each direction) for the inside of the rear, side windows of my “Great-Dane-mover”…er…Town & Country. (Hey…since SUV’s just don’t have the carrying capacity of a minivan, if ya’ gotta get one, why not get a top-of-the-line, luxurious Town & Country? We grudgingly entered the minivan market with that one, and have had zero complaints.)
I immediately had buyer’s remorse with the stickers, and wasn’t sure if I’d ever affix them, once they arrived. I’m just not a huge fan of the “I define myself through my dogs” school of thought. I understand it. …Deeply. But, to me, it’s all a bit…well… I’d better shut up now.
So, one day, the cling things arrived. I tentatively put one up, and stepped back outside to see how it looked. Phew! The dark tint made it barely noticeable. But still, it made a subtle statement. …Nice. I was happy with it. I am, after all, a huge fan of Great Danes. I’m certainly not ashamed of that.
The only time I know for sure the stickers have been seen and acknowledged was one day in the summer of 2006, when a rescue started bleeding profusely from his neuter incision, and we whisked him off to an area 24hr emergency clinic. Some time after our early-morning arrival, the morning shift began arriving. One walked in the door and directly over to us, saying, “I knew someone big was in here. I saw the van.”
While the stickers are still up, I’m leaning towards taking them down. I’m still a tad uncomfortable with them.
That said, a friend of mine is also my veterinarian. When I mentioned that I had to bring my pets in for a check-up, but I’d been putting it off due to the distance to her clinic, she volunteered to make a housecall. (Now THAT’S a friend!) On her way out, she noticed the stickers (probably for the first time, since I rarely drive that car when we’re socializing, and the images aren’t super-obvious, as I described above), and said she’d like some for her car, only in Doberman.
Really?!?
That put me in a funny position. Since her request, I’ve been (somewhat reluctantly) scouring the Internet, hoping to find that same company with the KAJILLION stock images that can be made into reverse (the cling part is on the image side so it can be attached to the inside of the window), laser cut (none of that empty space around a central image), vinyl cling stickers.
I’ve come across many companies that do vinyl cling stickers. No Dobermans. Or no attractive Doberman images. There are companies that do custom work, but the first proof is typically hundreds of dollars (which I just can’t justify for a sticker).
Let’s face it, I’m stuck. I’ve long-since forgotten every detail of the transaction that netted me my own cling stickers, in addition to thinking about getting rid of them. Now I’m supposed to be the hero, and get some Doberman ones? Yikes!
If any of you know the company (they have literally thousands of stock images, and several for pretty much every dog breed there is), please don’t hesitate to post that information for me. I’d really appreciate it. :-)
Comment by Marjorie — June 3, 2008 @ 12:43 pm
I bet somebody here will know. I have magnets, but I don’t recommend them for any car you really care about, because they will leave a mark if left on a long time (same with those yellow ribbons, etc.). But this is on my trashed old DogCar, so I don’t care about the pain.
But I would actually rather have the inside-window cling type, too, so hope someone knows a source.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 3, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
I found this:
http://tinyurl.com/6qjht3
…but I don’t think it’s “reverse” (meaning, the cling part needs to be on the image side, so it attaches inside the window). I’ll have to check.
The image is not exactly what I had in mind, but it might do.
I’m still Googling, though.
Comment by Marjorie — June 3, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
Oops. No. That’s not going to work.
“Since all the vinyl graphic products are designed for outdoor installation…”
Back to Google, it is.
Comment by Marjorie — June 3, 2008 @ 1:16 pm
I found this unusual online “store”:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/FUNKY.....idZ2QQtZkm
They sell clings that look like stained glass. Not quite what I’m looking for, but others might have a use for them (?)
Comment by Marjorie — June 3, 2008 @ 1:26 pm
Marjorie, take a close look all around the outside margin of one of the clings. There’s a good chance that there is a thin white margin, and that SOMEWHERE along that margin will be a company name or a product number or something in REALLY TINY TYPE. It’s worth Googling - I’ve had pretty good luck Googling product numbers along with a smattering of other descriptive info.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — June 3, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Thanks, The OTHER Pat. Great suggestion! And wouldn’t it be totally awesome if it panned out?! I’d be loving you!!!
I do still love you ;-) but, alas, there is no margin. (The black outline of the dog is the edge.) And there’s no company info. or item # printed on it anywhere, either. Gosh darn it all!
The kicker is, I remember seeing the email confirmations and whatnot in my “orders & delivery information” file, as recently as about a year ago. But, apparently, I’ve since deleted those documents. They’re simply not anywhere to be found on my hard drive. I’ve done search after search after search, with every word combination I can think of. And I can’t, for the life of me, remember the company’s name, or what search led me to them in the first place.
(I do know I was initially looking to buy a new country sticker for the newly-acquired Town & Country. My husband is European, where those country stickers are oh, so “fashionable.” The one he likes for his country is hard to find, even there, so, as a surprise, I had one custom-made from this company. And while at their web site, I stumbled across their doggie cling stickers. That was about 4 or 5 years ago.)
Great company. Got everything right. Easy to deal with. Can’t remember their name and, so far, haven’t been able to find them through search engines. Consarnit!
Comment by Marjorie — June 3, 2008 @ 2:35 pm
I have Sirius satellite radio, and when I purchased the receiver I got one of the Sirius cling-stickers (a dog with an antenna tail) that says “I’m with the dog” and I applied it to my car. Since Puck is always in the car wherever and whenever I go, the sticker is quite literally correct even though the receiver is usually left at home.
Comment by CarolPW — June 3, 2008 @ 6:34 pm
I now have a Shiba, but for many years I had Dalmatians.
License plate: FYRDOGS
Plate holder: “Dalmatian Transportation”
The fire folks during the local burn center drive like the plates. (They stand at a key intersection once a year and collect money for the burn center in firemens boots.) I get lots of thumbs up and smiles from them when they notice the plates.
Comment by glock — June 3, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
I have an old bumper sticker “sometimes your the dog & sometimes your the hydrant” with a Scottie leg-raised on a fire hydrant, it’s getting too crinkly. Also have various Sealyham & Scottie items, including a clear Suzark sealy dangler.
But my ever revolving signs on the rear window, are kept fresh to not be boring.
Currently say:
*STOP*
New Hampshire
Veterinary Negligence & Abuse
Http://clik.to/scotty
Pocket’s Story of New Hampshire
license plate: N1YES—-(ham radio call sign)
Comment by Barbara A. Albright — June 5, 2008 @ 2:03 pm