How Plug Dogs Got Their Name

How PLUG DOGS get their name

The name Plug Dogs came about because I had a dog at the time. (a First dog, huge and devoted, who has since ended his good run. I have not yet replaced my muse.)

He and I would get in the car to go the park, and/or run errands. I’d put him in the car, my purse, my library books, the recycling etc. etc. check behind the car for trikes and neighbor kids and then and forget to unplug the engine block heater from the outlet in the garage. (so many things to remember!) Since I tied the extension cord to something loose in an effort to keep it from getting ruined when I forgot it (which I did frequently) everything that it was tied to would get dragged into the garage. Then I’d have to stop, clean up a mess, and unplug before we went anywhere else.

I decided that it would be a good idea to have some thing that would pull the plug apart at the face of the plug instead of the cord, and the idea was born. I also worked in a factory and they had a crane in there that was used to lift huge sheets of metal across the machine shop floor. The device used to grasp the metal sheet was called a dog because it would get a tighter hold on the metal sheet if you pulled on it. That appealed to me since it described both the action and the inspiration for the device.

The idea for the RV model came at the request of a friend of mine. Once he saw how well it worked for the engine block, he suggested it for RVs, for marine applications and for industrial applications. I think someone said that the idea would be good in a hospital situation since they need to move crash carts around and their hands are usually gloved, so being able to unplug there without touching something that is not sterile. I heard suggestions for lots of applications. I was really into having my cord detach from my car’s block heater without having to remember it. My dad and brother use them on their diesel truck engine block heaters and also on their tractors. They plug them in to an extension cord that goes into a switched plug, turn it “on” when it is cold about 30 minutes before they need to drive them. The whole thing happens from the house. They are interested to know when I am going to come up with a “Plugger inner” device.

The inventor.