Dog and the Mail Lady

[Wolverinefarm22]

Are they delivering the rest of the street? If so the “dangerous dog” poses no threat outside of delivery right at the door. Talk to postmaster and suggest putting up a delivery at a curbside box. No reasonable postmaster would say this isn’t a viable alternative.

 

[ultrarunner]

Yes… only this home has no delivery…

I should have taken a picture… I say the walk is 8’ and the box is on the garage wall and away from front door by 8’.

I will suggest moving the box to the other side of the garage door out of sight from the front door…

Again, this happened in a mini heat spell do the dogs nose was against the steel security GM door…

I can confirm the dog on the other side of the steel security door acts menacing… I even said to myself I glad to be separated by the door.

When grandma came to the door and said hush and go to crate the dog stopped and went into the kennel and I walked in…

Maybe the carrier is shell shocked or looking for a disability out?

She is a tiny person, well under 5’ tall.

 

[etpm]

Maybe the carrier is shell shocked

When my brother was just a kid a dog bit him in the face. The dog's teeth went through his cheek. A lot of blood. Left a nice scar. My brother dislikes dogs to this day, over 60 years later.
Eric

 

[Cycledude]

Very scary situation for someone that is afraid of dogs !
My ups driver loves dogs and usually has a treat for the dog, dog jumps right in the truck with him.
The FedEx driver is afraid of dogs so no treats and the dog barks a lot when the FedEx truck pulls into my yard. I don’t have a dog anymore but I had very friendly Black Labs that wouldn’t bite anyone unless they did something to deserve it, my dogs never bit anyone that I’m aware of, I did see him nip at someone once but that person was doing something he shouldn’t have been doing and I think he learned a good lesson.

 

[Jstpssng]

My last dog was a pushover with a large bark. Often when I let him out he'd tear off the porch barking loudly to every squirrel in town that he was the biggest, baddest in the valley.
One evening in 2020 he started out barking so I said "Get him!!"
Suddenly a delivery truck tore out the driveway. Unbeknownst to me, my employer had sent everybody an order from Omaha Steak company.
I tried to find out who the delivery driver was so that I could apologise but had no luck.

 

[mapper]

One our former mail ladies used to dish out dog treats, she really liked our dog and would give her multiple treats every day. I couldn't figure out why the dog was getting fat until I saw her toss treats out down the driveway as she was driving away. A friendly conversation later she cut her back to one a day, needless to say the dog was still very happy to see her each day.
Our current mail lady does not give treats but our current dog likes to greet her if he's out. She gives him a pat and tells him to go to the house, which he does. The other delivery folks do occasionally give him cookies, he's really happy to see them.
He's a golden retriever so while a bit noisy at times, he is not very scary.

 

[Jim Shooz]

i delivered the rural mail for 600 customers, 120 miles a day for 15 years. Most of the time there was no-one home. the dog would come bounding out barking its head off. I would ignore them and carry on unloading their parcel. The dog would bark for a while, wonder why it was barking, go and piss on a wheel and wander off.
Never had a problem. Dogs were all sizes, working dogs or pets. I did not own a dog ( or cat) and had no animal smells on me.

 

[anomad]

I'll throw in another story or three. When I live in Montana my mail lady was a tiny little Puerto Rican woman. Mail box was on the side walk a good 6 feet away from the gate. Guinness, harmless chocolate lab, would barrel down the sidewalk to the house doing the bow-wow-wow bark. She was terrified.

UPS guy on the same beat was a huge Montana farm boy and knew all about dogs. Guinness would see the truck roll up and head down the sidewalk at mach 3. Farmboy would throw the gate open and spin Guinness around in circles and tell him to go get a ball or toy. If you know, Labs love to play. UPS guy liked to play too.

Flash forward to New Mexico. Lots of fighting dogs around. Won't argue with anyone not messing around with those. Mail lady rolls up, Guinness is an old man at this point. Lounging in the grass while I tinker in the garage. She wouldn't get out of her truck till I put him inside. If you are afraid of a 12 year old grey muzzled napping chocolate lab you don't know a damn thing about dogs.

 

[FullMetalBucket]

What breed is the dog? Have to be a little careful and I’m not defending insurance companies at all here, but many require you to disclose ownership of the dog, particularly certain breeds in some states. They can deny claims or cancel your policy. That being said, it isn’t the business of the post office to see what insurance you carry.

The sad truth is there are a lot of bad pet owners out there and some of these breeds can easily kill a human. I’m guessing there was a previous incident that caused the carrier to become squeamish.

 

[square1]

You can forget about the postmaster siding with Grandma. Save your time and energy. Imagine the repercussions for him/her if they didn't take the carriers concern seriously and something happened. Could be the dog just being playful, but that carrier isn't going to think so.

Most dogs like me, and I like most dogs, but you often hear about the dog "that never bit anyone before".

 

[Eagle1]

You can forget about the postmaster siding with Grandma. Save your time and energy. Imagine the repercussions for him/her if they didn't take the carriers concern seriously and something happened. Could be the dog just being playful, but that carrier isn't going to think so.

Most dogs like me, and I like most dogs, but you often hear about the dog "that never bit anyone before".

So you consider a dog inside the house behind a closed security door a threat? The dog in question was not outside roaming, but within the house behind a closed door.

 

[ultrarunner]

So you consider a dog inside the house behind a closed security door a threat? The dog in question was not outside roaming, but within the house behind a closed door.

That’s what drew me in and I don’t have a dog in this fight.

Not sure of the breed but as a property manager dogs have caused issues for me.

Insurance has banned some breeds but against the no dog policy at a rental I manage tenant got a companion dog for their slight autistic son… it’s a pit-bull.

ADA and Dr. note had me between a rock and a hard place as manager.

The family moved a few months later without incident..

As too grandma, my fear is having the dog is making things stressful for her plus maybe increased chance of a fall as she is not all that steady walking with a cane..

 

[ultrarunner]

Another way to look at it is maybe grandma got the same as a free P.O. Box?

The post office now holds her mail and the grandson picks it up on his day off…

 

[Eagle1]

That’s what drew me in and I don’t have a dog in this fight.

Not sure of the breed but as a property manager dogs have caused issues for me.

Insurance has banned some breeds but against the no dog policy at a rental I manage tenant got a companion dog for their slight autistic son… it’s a pit-bull.

ADA and Dr. note had me between a rock and a hard place as manager.

The family moved a few months later without incident..

As too grandma, my fear is having the dog is making things stressful for her plus maybe increased chance of a fall as she is not all that steady walking with a cane..

My question is would the carrier deliver in an area where someone walked their dog on a leash if it looked scary? Or be in a parking lot with an protective dog in a vehicle (contained).
I had a Great Pyr that would make you pray if you walked near the SUV.

 

[square1]

So you consider a dog inside the house behind a closed security door a threat? The dog in question was not outside roaming, but within the house behind a closed door.

No guarantee the dog will remain there.
A pit mix behind an invisible fence came through the barrier one day while I passed by the yard. I'm glad I never felt comfortable enough to lower my guard thinking that dog was behind security.

 

[ultrarunner]

Mom was attacked by a pit when a 12 year old came home from school and opened the front door and a dog charged out to the sidewalk.

Mom was just walking to mail a letter 2 blocks from home…

It was career ending after 50 years as RN

All it took was an instant… the dog family was renting and the property was in foreclosure… mom never saw a penny…

Maybe it would have been different if mom was a letter carrier delivering instead of carrying a letter to mail?

 

[square1]

My mom was attacked by a pit when a 12 year old came home from school and opened the front door and the dog charged out to the sidewalk.

Mom was just walking to mail a letter 2 blocks from home…

It was career ending after 50 years as RN

A it took was an instant… the family was renting and the property was in foreclosure… mom never saw a penny…

Maybe it would have been different if mom was a letter carrier delivering instead of carrying a letter to mail?

 

[Eagle1]

No guarantee the dog will remain there.
A pit mix behind an invisible fence came through the barrier one day while I passed by the yard. I'm glad I never felt comfortable enough to lower my guard thinking that dog was behind security.

Invisible fence is worthless to a motivated dog. What level of containment is sufficient to be allowed to have a dog? We had one here secured in a metal kennel shot by a scared officer. It was a 8 pound Chihuahua and never left the kennel, just scared the poor officer.

 

[ultrarunner]

Invisible fence is worthless to motivated dog. What level of containment is sufficient to be allowed to have a dog? We had one here secured in a metal kennel shot by a scared officer. It was a 8 pound Chihuahua and never left the kennel, just scared the poor officer.

That is very sad…

A few years ago in

In 2010, an Oakland police officer fatally shot a family's dog while responding to a call for assistance from an animal control officer and the dogs owner fatally shot the officer.

October 5, 2010, an Oakland police officer shot and killed a family's 11-year-old arthritic golden Labrador named Gloria in the backyard of her home. The shooting occurred while the officer was assisting an animal control officer at the residence. The incident caused outrage, and the officer claimed he felt threatened by the dog

 

[CH4Ohio]

Your first couple posts really paint the picture from the Post Office's viewpoint -- And you know the dog and the situation . . . Imagine how a stranger might describe the same event.

You said the dog sounded like it would tear you apart. I'm guessing that includes some lunging against the door too.

You said that no way would the dog let someone into the house. In other words, it must be a VERY ferocious sounding dog. In fact, it sounds like it would actually bite if "it wouldn't let someone in the house."

If the dog is that scary, no one is going to walk up to the mailbox everyday terrified that the door isn't latched properly. (I don't think you've mentioned what breed it is, but if it's one of the recognized "vicious" "dangerous" breeds, that adds another layer of credibility to the postal carrier's fears.) It doesn't matter that it's behind a screen door or a mesh door. (I know of one instance where a mastiff came through a picture window. I don't think it was actually going to bite anyone, but it was just a loud wild dog and slammed up against the glass one too many times. Took a lot of stitches and made a lot of mess. Just "being inside" might not always be enough.)

(Side story -- Reminds me of a private zoo at a resort I stayed at. They had everything, but the tigers were right outside the townhouse I was staying in -- just across the sidewalk from where I parked my car. I was standing there watching this big male tiger pace back-and-forth, looking back at me, on the other side of some heavy chain-link fence. After a couple seconds I broke eye contact and backed away and got in my car! I remember thinking "this is nuts!")

With all the lawsuits and attorneys and risk-management people, and all the worker's comp injuries and PTSD claims, etc. etc. . . . virtually all companies now have policies that their workers are not allowed to place themselves in danger and have to report these things. Companies routinely prohibit employees from even entering a premise with a "loose" dog. If the employee violates these guidelines, and then gets hurt, they potentially face discipline and reduced compensation. The policies are well-intentioned but get amplified by extreme risk aversion.

I'm a dog guy. Have two now. Have had dogs my whole life except for a couple years when I lived in a dorm. And I've had some of the recognized "vicious" breeds too. But your initial post set the stage for this drama. Any dog that's "scary" can cause this kind of reaction. And anyone that has a dog that will bite people is sitting on a time-bomb and asking for trouble.