I go into people’s homes for work every day and the amount of untrained and aggressive dogs I see is really alarming.
Kinda funny that they chose to use the smallest dog imaginable for the imagery though
We have invested in a child gate type of screen that goes across the front of our porch so when we open the door our dog is safely contained. She is a 12 year old labrador who wants fuss off of everyone but not everyone is comfortable with dogs and I can understand that.
Between my postie partner and I we’ve both been bit multiple times, none of them our fault. It’s been a few years since we both left but I know one of his was a Shih tzu, I had a border collie and German shepherd and then the worst was a chow x shar pei owned by a garage. They couldn’t understand why I would no longer deliver to them after being bit. I also had a cat, Toby, who would never let me up his drive but his elderly mom was a serial book orderer. He would stalk me away from the property too. Every year I would get a sorry card and chocolates for Christmas specifically from Toby the cat.
Or you know, train and socialise your carnivorous friend properly
And RM legal team spend a LOT of their time on prosecutions. My gf used to work there and it’s a huge problem
My dogs love the postman, so much so he gives them a big fuss if we bump into him on our walks. Even with that being the case I always make sure my dogs are out of the way when I open the door, not all people want to have an interaction with dogs when they’re at work.
Postie here.
Can confirm a vast majority of dog owners (not you though, you’re different) are thoughtless.
Secure your dog before opening the door rather than try to block it with your leg – it may be fine with you but I’m not you.
Put a box on the wall or cage behind the letterbox if it goes for the door please, its not funny to have to risk fingers bitten off (it does happen).
It’s somehow socially acceptable to let your dog lunge for a postman, lots find it amusing.
It’s not, I have the right to perform my work without serious risk of injury.
Bitten over 10 times, twice requiring stitches.
Your dog can be destroyed & you can be prosecuted.
Just please please be mindful of your pet.
I haven’t read ‘The Beano’ for years but I presume by this point Dennis’ Dad has been taken to court by Royal Mail and Gnasher has been put down?
My mum was a postie for years and flat out refused to deliver mail if there was a dog out in the garden as it’s a danger. The amount of people who would get offended because the dog was clearly excitable and could be out of control. She even got bit once and the customer had the audacity to try and say my mum was egging the dog on. The same scenario has happened to other posties. People can’t control their dogs, it’s alarming.
And no, my mum not the other posties did not egg the dogs on. These dogs were not controlled by their owners and just left out in the open whilst they were just trying to deliver post.
I can confirm that it’s a massive issue. I was bitten by a dog whilst I worked for Royal Mail. I actually know a guy that was full on mauled by a dog on his round.
As an Amazon driver, please do not buy those tiny letterbox cages unless they can fit a full A4 envelope. We hate those
There was a book, might have been a Poirot one, that explains this behaviour. Most people walk up, rattle the letter box, and are acknowledged by the dog’s masters. Either through being let in or having a conversation. The postman comes every day, rattles the letterbox, is ignored, and leaves. So the dog learns that this particular visitor is unwelcome.
When I was 14 I had a paper round and every day there would be a Jack Russel who would chase me on my bike and nip at the back of my leg.
Well one day I had enough, I stuck my foot out as I went past and booted the thing, never chased me again after that.
A delivery driver I know recently lost the tip of their finger due to a dog at the door.
We had our dog meet the postman a few times, just seemed logical and it has paid off I think as now he knows what is going on when the post is delivered, doesn’t really react. Whenever we open the door though we do lock the dog in another room, he’s completely friendly (only 9 months old though, very excitable) but people don’t want a dog jumping out at them when you open the door.
I’m sure Postman Pat doesn’t have to deal with any of the shit that other posties deal with.
When I was a kid I had one of those paper rounds where you delivered a shite free local paper to every door in the neighbourhood. The people that ran it said if I encountered an aggressive dog I was not to deliver to them anymore. There were so fucking many, and they all booted off and complained that they weren’t getting their free newspaper.
We have a metal cage around the letter box as our little Jack Russell was jumping up at the letter box. We also have a child gate at the kitchen door so if we need to answer the door she goes behind that.
She wouldn’t hurt anyone but not everyone knows that so it’s only fair to keep her away from them.
I’ve a good friend whose arm was absolutely mauled when he was a postie. The scars are still there ten years later and they’ll never leave. It’s frightening, and I can’t imagine how scared he would have been, and in how much pain. I’d seen posters in the sorting offices and whatnot, but I’ll admit I never paid much attention (helps that I don’t have a dog). After seeing his arm, though, I know any dog i have will be far far away from any postie. I wonder if posters would be better showing injuries from dogs, but then I assume people would go “oh no, my Edgar would never do that, that’s what Dangerous Dogs do” and make them think that Other People’s dogs are the problem…..
Had a nasty little wire haired terrier on my delivery, and a few years back he was lose in the village, just running around the place, in and out of gardens. At one house, he just ran out from the bushes and took a chuck out of my ankle. I gave him the other side of my boot, and he scampered off. When I got to the house he lives at, I told the owner, and she said “well, that’s just what he’s like”. No apology or anything. So I told my boss, who went to have a word. And the little prick bit him as well! Still no apology, so a restriction on delivery was enforced. They soon started to keep him in, and put a box on the gate.
The dog has passed away since, and while I don’t wish harm on an animal, I certainly don’t miss that little fucker.
I used to be a Dog person. Then I got a job as a Delivery person 5 years ago. EVERY courier at my depot has a Dog bite story.
I had a dog bite my ankle once and the owner said at the same time “Don’t worry they don’t bite”. I’ve seen other delivery people joke about this common line owners say.
I’ve been bitten about 5-7 times. My first bad one the teeth went in to my leg, blood all down my leg, socks saturated. 3 times not bad, just red marks. Bitten on tip of finger, but just bled a bit. Worst one for me was a French Bulldog thinking my hand was a chew toy, I felt bones clicking in my hand it bit down so hard. I also got a cats claws in my finger as I posted something.
Some dogs that have tried to bite me, the owner still brings the dog to the door with them. Holding them by the collar, then you’ve got to hand them the parcel as the dog strains forward.
I’m very tentative around all dogs now.
I’ve been to a door covered in blood. Next day I went back to same door, there was a note in door asking Postman to contact homeowner. The postman must have had a bad bite, there was decent amount of blood splashed down the front of the door.
I know of a postwoman attacked and was Hospitalised for a few weeks. She couldn’t go back to work because it messed her up mentally, anxiety etc.
I know of a driver at my depot who was bitten so bad in the hand, he had to get his son to come get him and drive him to A&E.
The majority of Dog owners are terrible and utterly clueless, they scream at their Dog “SHUT UP”… the dogs barking because you’re shouting louder. The amount of owners who think training a dog means speaking English to them…
We’ve got a cat, she isn’t allowed in the porch.
I use to be a postman. There was always a couple of houses on each route that royal mail decided not to deliver too due to a dog, even if there had been no previous attack. This would come after multiple warning letters to the resident.
I deliver to a house with a frosted glass front door and little yelping dog awaiting me. I put the mail in and it’s like putting it in a word chipper, literally confetti in seconds. The owner stormed out last week and screamed at ME because his dog ate his mail. I did say “it’s literally my only job, putting mail in your door, after that, it’s a YOU problem..” 🤷‍♂️
A postie friend of mine had to have plastic surgery last year to reattach his bottom lip and repair his top lip after someone let her dog out to ”day hello to the postie.” as he walked up a corridor to the womans flat. Sunny day, silhouette of a man walking toward the dogs front door, dog defends. Not too surprising really.
It’s crazy how often posties get bitten and the owners just don’t seem to give a crap about it.
Never seen the appeal of taking my dog to the door to revive a parcel, too much effort.
Not a postie, but for a brief time, I helped post leaflets for my local Lib Dems. I quickly learned which houses had dogs. There was one in particular where I’d have to practically leap back whenever I put anything through the letter slot, because a rabbid slipper would spring up to try and kill me.
I have an overprotective rescue, so have installed a box outside the door, and for when we have to accept parcels, he’s been trained to go into the kitchen, which we shut him in. We did have a cage, but due to the layout of the house, it was in the travel path of the bathroom door, so didn’t last long…
We also have the letter slot taped up, but despite our best attempts, every so often, we get a postie who ignores the warnings and tries to be brave…
My dog likes to scream bloody murder when posties knock, I get so embarrassed. Our front door opens to a hallway and then the living room is separate and baby gated off but I still get so worried she’ll scare them, granted they get a lot less scared when she jumps on the windowsill and see she’s a tiny beagle
Had a postman blame our dog for biting him once. He’d actually got his fingers stuck in the flap and heard the dog barking so blamed him for a less embarrassing story. He was blind and confined to a single room. The dog, not the postie.
We put a box on the wall outside because the dogs were shredding the post, and our ever unhelpful postman kept putting the post through the letterbox. We had to literally screw it shut and put a sign up. If there’s a dog in the hall and something needs signed for, he never gives you 20 seconds to put the dog away, he just puts a card through the door. I swear he has them pre written. Not that he actually rings the bell or knocks the door anyway.
See? This is why Postman Pat had a black and white cat and not a dog. The man was logical.
I wonder how many people’s post just goes undelivered because they can’t be arsed securing their dog. Postie used to skip our next door neighbours all the time because their bully would always be roaming loose in the garden unsupervised.
As a postie pretty much all of us have got dog bite stories. I got bitten on my fourth day. Its fucking outrageous and the owners never seem to care all that much until they have to start collecting all their mail from the DO. Fuck em, should’ve thought about that beforehand.
As paper boys, my brother, and occasionally me, had to deliver to a house with a huge Great Dane that was usually just roaming free in the garden. As soon as it heard the gate open it would bound over and sometimes bark very loudly. It was a perfectly friendly dog, but bloody terrifying.
The number of _small_ dogs that are incredibly aggressive and it gets ignored because of their size. Fuck that.
I have a small dog that was aggressive, but we’ve _trained_ him out of it, so it’s not like it’s impossible.
Those three points are good – a fourth, and universally good thing, would be train your dog so it’s not a total cunt of a thing
4
We have a big container on our front porch step for our post to go in. Our dog isn’t vicious or aggressive at all but he will pick up the post as soon as it’s delivered and shred it, and this was our only option to stop that really. Some people make fun of our “Post Box” but I’m glad to see it’s a legitimate suggestion from the Royal Mail.
I can relate! Sometimes it takes a personal experience or someone sharing their story for us to see the bigger picture.
My old work had a bastard of an German shepherd that roamed the warehouse as “security” and would always chase out of the door any drivers or delivery people. He bit a Royal Mail postie once and they refused to deliver to us, so the boss had to drive to the sorting office most days.
If Paula Vennels was delivering I’d leave her to my Alsatian – full stop!
This is genuinely a massive issue that unless you haven’t worked the job yourself you won’t understand how bad it is.
People are fucking IDIOTS with their dogs, I’ve been fortunate enough to have not been attacked but I can’t count the amount of times dogs have come charging out. I’ve had people who’s dogs were secured behind a gate, AND THEY UNLOCK THE GATE AND LET THEM OUT because “they’re friendly and want to say hello”.
I love animals but I’ve still absolutely shat myself when huge dogs run out and jump up at you, I can’t imagine how people with a fear of dogs would feel, It’s so incredibly innapropriate. As friendly as your dog is there’s always a chance it’ll bite/nip or just snap and start attacking.
The office I worked out of dog bites were a regular occurence, some were pretty fucking nasty bites as well.
My friends dog used to grab the mail out of the person’s hand, he grew out of it before they thought of a solutionÂ
It’s weird that completely untrained people having access to genetically modified wolves could cause such problems.
I got bit by a dog posting a letter when I was a teenager and had to go hospital. Fuck dog owners who don’t know how to be dog owners.
*Quickly googles letterbox cages* đź«Ł
I worked as a postman for a bit and got bit by this shitty little Yorkshire terrier. I kicked it to get it off accidentally killed it and got the sack
50 comments
I go into people’s homes for work every day and the amount of untrained and aggressive dogs I see is really alarming.
Kinda funny that they chose to use the smallest dog imaginable for the imagery though
We have invested in a child gate type of screen that goes across the front of our porch so when we open the door our dog is safely contained. She is a 12 year old labrador who wants fuss off of everyone but not everyone is comfortable with dogs and I can understand that.
Between my postie partner and I we’ve both been bit multiple times, none of them our fault. It’s been a few years since we both left but I know one of his was a Shih tzu, I had a border collie and German shepherd and then the worst was a chow x shar pei owned by a garage. They couldn’t understand why I would no longer deliver to them after being bit. I also had a cat, Toby, who would never let me up his drive but his elderly mom was a serial book orderer. He would stalk me away from the property too. Every year I would get a sorry card and chocolates for Christmas specifically from Toby the cat.
Or you know, train and socialise your carnivorous friend properly
And RM legal team spend a LOT of their time on prosecutions. My gf used to work there and it’s a huge problem
My dogs love the postman, so much so he gives them a big fuss if we bump into him on our walks. Even with that being the case I always make sure my dogs are out of the way when I open the door, not all people want to have an interaction with dogs when they’re at work.
Postie here.
Can confirm a vast majority of dog owners (not you though, you’re different) are thoughtless.
Secure your dog before opening the door rather than try to block it with your leg – it may be fine with you but I’m not you.
Put a box on the wall or cage behind the letterbox if it goes for the door please, its not funny to have to risk fingers bitten off (it does happen).
It’s somehow socially acceptable to let your dog lunge for a postman, lots find it amusing.
It’s not, I have the right to perform my work without serious risk of injury.
Bitten over 10 times, twice requiring stitches.
Your dog can be destroyed & you can be prosecuted.
Just please please be mindful of your pet.
I haven’t read ‘The Beano’ for years but I presume by this point Dennis’ Dad has been taken to court by Royal Mail and Gnasher has been put down?
My mum was a postie for years and flat out refused to deliver mail if there was a dog out in the garden as it’s a danger. The amount of people who would get offended because the dog was clearly excitable and could be out of control. She even got bit once and the customer had the audacity to try and say my mum was egging the dog on. The same scenario has happened to other posties. People can’t control their dogs, it’s alarming.
And no, my mum not the other posties did not egg the dogs on. These dogs were not controlled by their owners and just left out in the open whilst they were just trying to deliver post.
I can confirm that it’s a massive issue. I was bitten by a dog whilst I worked for Royal Mail. I actually know a guy that was full on mauled by a dog on his round.
As an Amazon driver, please do not buy those tiny letterbox cages unless they can fit a full A4 envelope. We hate those
There was a book, might have been a Poirot one, that explains this behaviour. Most people walk up, rattle the letter box, and are acknowledged by the dog’s masters. Either through being let in or having a conversation. The postman comes every day, rattles the letterbox, is ignored, and leaves. So the dog learns that this particular visitor is unwelcome.
When I was 14 I had a paper round and every day there would be a Jack Russel who would chase me on my bike and nip at the back of my leg.
Well one day I had enough, I stuck my foot out as I went past and booted the thing, never chased me again after that.
A delivery driver I know recently lost the tip of their finger due to a dog at the door.
We had our dog meet the postman a few times, just seemed logical and it has paid off I think as now he knows what is going on when the post is delivered, doesn’t really react. Whenever we open the door though we do lock the dog in another room, he’s completely friendly (only 9 months old though, very excitable) but people don’t want a dog jumping out at them when you open the door.
Soon, posties will be [getting ready for work](http://i.giphy.com/3qCAEJMhmt3vnXybEA.gif)
I’m sure Postman Pat doesn’t have to deal with any of the shit that other posties deal with.
When I was a kid I had one of those paper rounds where you delivered a shite free local paper to every door in the neighbourhood. The people that ran it said if I encountered an aggressive dog I was not to deliver to them anymore. There were so fucking many, and they all booted off and complained that they weren’t getting their free newspaper.
We have a metal cage around the letter box as our little Jack Russell was jumping up at the letter box. We also have a child gate at the kitchen door so if we need to answer the door she goes behind that.
She wouldn’t hurt anyone but not everyone knows that so it’s only fair to keep her away from them.
I’ve a good friend whose arm was absolutely mauled when he was a postie. The scars are still there ten years later and they’ll never leave. It’s frightening, and I can’t imagine how scared he would have been, and in how much pain. I’d seen posters in the sorting offices and whatnot, but I’ll admit I never paid much attention (helps that I don’t have a dog). After seeing his arm, though, I know any dog i have will be far far away from any postie. I wonder if posters would be better showing injuries from dogs, but then I assume people would go “oh no, my Edgar would never do that, that’s what Dangerous Dogs do” and make them think that Other People’s dogs are the problem…..
Had a nasty little wire haired terrier on my delivery, and a few years back he was lose in the village, just running around the place, in and out of gardens. At one house, he just ran out from the bushes and took a chuck out of my ankle. I gave him the other side of my boot, and he scampered off. When I got to the house he lives at, I told the owner, and she said “well, that’s just what he’s like”. No apology or anything. So I told my boss, who went to have a word. And the little prick bit him as well! Still no apology, so a restriction on delivery was enforced. They soon started to keep him in, and put a box on the gate.
The dog has passed away since, and while I don’t wish harm on an animal, I certainly don’t miss that little fucker.
I used to be a Dog person. Then I got a job as a Delivery person 5 years ago. EVERY courier at my depot has a Dog bite story.
I had a dog bite my ankle once and the owner said at the same time “Don’t worry they don’t bite”. I’ve seen other delivery people joke about this common line owners say.
I’ve been bitten about 5-7 times. My first bad one the teeth went in to my leg, blood all down my leg, socks saturated. 3 times not bad, just red marks. Bitten on tip of finger, but just bled a bit. Worst one for me was a French Bulldog thinking my hand was a chew toy, I felt bones clicking in my hand it bit down so hard. I also got a cats claws in my finger as I posted something.
Some dogs that have tried to bite me, the owner still brings the dog to the door with them. Holding them by the collar, then you’ve got to hand them the parcel as the dog strains forward.
I’m very tentative around all dogs now.
I’ve been to a door covered in blood. Next day I went back to same door, there was a note in door asking Postman to contact homeowner. The postman must have had a bad bite, there was decent amount of blood splashed down the front of the door.
I know of a postwoman attacked and was Hospitalised for a few weeks. She couldn’t go back to work because it messed her up mentally, anxiety etc.
I know of a driver at my depot who was bitten so bad in the hand, he had to get his son to come get him and drive him to A&E.
The majority of Dog owners are terrible and utterly clueless, they scream at their Dog “SHUT UP”… the dogs barking because you’re shouting louder. The amount of owners who think training a dog means speaking English to them…
We’ve got a cat, she isn’t allowed in the porch.
I use to be a postman. There was always a couple of houses on each route that royal mail decided not to deliver too due to a dog, even if there had been no previous attack. This would come after multiple warning letters to the resident.
I deliver to a house with a frosted glass front door and little yelping dog awaiting me. I put the mail in and it’s like putting it in a word chipper, literally confetti in seconds. The owner stormed out last week and screamed at ME because his dog ate his mail. I did say “it’s literally my only job, putting mail in your door, after that, it’s a YOU problem..” 🤷‍♂️
A postie friend of mine had to have plastic surgery last year to reattach his bottom lip and repair his top lip after someone let her dog out to ”day hello to the postie.” as he walked up a corridor to the womans flat. Sunny day, silhouette of a man walking toward the dogs front door, dog defends. Not too surprising really.
It’s crazy how often posties get bitten and the owners just don’t seem to give a crap about it.
Never seen the appeal of taking my dog to the door to revive a parcel, too much effort.
Not a postie, but for a brief time, I helped post leaflets for my local Lib Dems. I quickly learned which houses had dogs. There was one in particular where I’d have to practically leap back whenever I put anything through the letter slot, because a rabbid slipper would spring up to try and kill me.
I have an overprotective rescue, so have installed a box outside the door, and for when we have to accept parcels, he’s been trained to go into the kitchen, which we shut him in. We did have a cage, but due to the layout of the house, it was in the travel path of the bathroom door, so didn’t last long…
We also have the letter slot taped up, but despite our best attempts, every so often, we get a postie who ignores the warnings and tries to be brave…
My dog likes to scream bloody murder when posties knock, I get so embarrassed. Our front door opens to a hallway and then the living room is separate and baby gated off but I still get so worried she’ll scare them, granted they get a lot less scared when she jumps on the windowsill and see she’s a tiny beagle
Had a postman blame our dog for biting him once. He’d actually got his fingers stuck in the flap and heard the dog barking so blamed him for a less embarrassing story. He was blind and confined to a single room. The dog, not the postie.
We put a box on the wall outside because the dogs were shredding the post, and our ever unhelpful postman kept putting the post through the letterbox. We had to literally screw it shut and put a sign up. If there’s a dog in the hall and something needs signed for, he never gives you 20 seconds to put the dog away, he just puts a card through the door. I swear he has them pre written. Not that he actually rings the bell or knocks the door anyway.
See? This is why Postman Pat had a black and white cat and not a dog. The man was logical.
I wonder how many people’s post just goes undelivered because they can’t be arsed securing their dog. Postie used to skip our next door neighbours all the time because their bully would always be roaming loose in the garden unsupervised.
As a postie pretty much all of us have got dog bite stories. I got bitten on my fourth day. Its fucking outrageous and the owners never seem to care all that much until they have to start collecting all their mail from the DO. Fuck em, should’ve thought about that beforehand.
It’s not just postmen, either. My friend got her fingertip bitten off while leafleting campaigning for Bristol city council. [It made the news.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-68703087)
As paper boys, my brother, and occasionally me, had to deliver to a house with a huge Great Dane that was usually just roaming free in the garden. As soon as it heard the gate open it would bound over and sometimes bark very loudly. It was a perfectly friendly dog, but bloody terrifying.
The number of _small_ dogs that are incredibly aggressive and it gets ignored because of their size. Fuck that.
I have a small dog that was aggressive, but we’ve _trained_ him out of it, so it’s not like it’s impossible.
Those three points are good – a fourth, and universally good thing, would be train your dog so it’s not a total cunt of a thing
4
We have a big container on our front porch step for our post to go in. Our dog isn’t vicious or aggressive at all but he will pick up the post as soon as it’s delivered and shred it, and this was our only option to stop that really. Some people make fun of our “Post Box” but I’m glad to see it’s a legitimate suggestion from the Royal Mail.
I can relate! Sometimes it takes a personal experience or someone sharing their story for us to see the bigger picture.
My old work had a bastard of an German shepherd that roamed the warehouse as “security” and would always chase out of the door any drivers or delivery people. He bit a Royal Mail postie once and they refused to deliver to us, so the boss had to drive to the sorting office most days.
If Paula Vennels was delivering I’d leave her to my Alsatian – full stop!
This is genuinely a massive issue that unless you haven’t worked the job yourself you won’t understand how bad it is.
People are fucking IDIOTS with their dogs, I’ve been fortunate enough to have not been attacked but I can’t count the amount of times dogs have come charging out. I’ve had people who’s dogs were secured behind a gate, AND THEY UNLOCK THE GATE AND LET THEM OUT because “they’re friendly and want to say hello”.
I love animals but I’ve still absolutely shat myself when huge dogs run out and jump up at you, I can’t imagine how people with a fear of dogs would feel, It’s so incredibly innapropriate. As friendly as your dog is there’s always a chance it’ll bite/nip or just snap and start attacking.
The office I worked out of dog bites were a regular occurence, some were pretty fucking nasty bites as well.
My friends dog used to grab the mail out of the person’s hand, he grew out of it before they thought of a solutionÂ
It’s weird that completely untrained people having access to genetically modified wolves could cause such problems.
I got bit by a dog posting a letter when I was a teenager and had to go hospital. Fuck dog owners who don’t know how to be dog owners.
*Quickly googles letterbox cages* đź«Ł
I worked as a postman for a bit and got bit by this shitty little Yorkshire terrier. I kicked it to get it off accidentally killed it and got the sack