Does your dog go crazy when a delivery person arrives? Does your house come with a warning to all delivery people? Is this a reputation your dog could do without?
With great thanks to today’s contributor Georgina May (pictured in her Postman uniform!), whose dogs Elle and Garbo are proud to have a Postie owner!
“Don’t worry – he/she’s friendly” are usually the words I hear before having to pry a set of teeth off my ankle. Followed by an, “I’m so sorry, I don’t know why he/she did that, they’ve never done that before.”
Try seeing it from your dog’s point of view. The postman (mailman) to them is the most persistent potential intruder. Practically every day this repeat offender in blue shows up at their door trying to get through the letterbox. And up until now their barking has scared them away, but it only takes a parcel arriving to change that. You wouldn’t blame your dog for thinking “Oh no, Mum/Dad what have you done, don’t open the door! Argh now I’ve got to step up my game to see ‘em off, a quick nip to the leg should do it…”
So here’s a few tips on how to make yours and your Posties’ lives a little easier.
When there’s a knock at the door, shut your dog in another room, don’t just let them charge out and hope for the best. If you want to socialise your dog with your postman, talk to the Postie (we don’t bite!), let them know what you’re trying to do and ask them if they mind. Most Posties will be more than happy to help. Then you can introduce your dog in a calm controlled manner, get your postman to give the dog a treat.
This will help them (both dog and Postie!) see that they are not a threat.
If your dog is prone to snatching post or chewing it up, put an outside box up, preferably one with a big enough slot for all your cards, as no one likes a bent card. Cages on the back of the door, are fiddly at best, and often fall off. So, pretty much a waste of money.
If you receive a lot of packages let your Postie know of a safe dry place on your property, or a neighbour it could be left with. Boxes of chocolates through the front door could be an irresistible and potentially dangerous package for the most well behaved of doggies.
Georgina x
This article was first published as part of the Intellidogs Advent Calendar 2010
I’m a full-time U.K. dog trainer and behaviour consultant based in Peterborough with 17 years in the field. My work ranges from class teaching, obedience, flyball, agility and working trials, competition, to running a popular dog display team.
Brilliant article!!!
I didn’t know Tiki was a Postwoman how coolio!!!
Mika has only scared one postman and that was because she charged from the kitchen to the front door and jumped up for a snog!! He now asks where she is!
She also responds better to the “get back” or “go back” command and seems to have taken the stairs as her “place” to sit and watch.
I have a picture of Mika doing what she does when the post arrives, 9/10 its a quick sniff and ignore but sometimes she will fetch it for us too, damage free!!
Natz and Mika
xxxx
What a great idea this calender is! Training advice and helping charity at the same time. Well done!
We have a puppy gate which is really great for training door manners, as it prevents the dogs from accessing the door unless they are calm. Also great for teaching dogs not to jump on arriving guests. And brilliant for securing dogs while you sign for parcels 🙂
My bullmastiff enjoys barking at the postman and so this has been a harder issue to tackle, but he is always safe behind the puppy gate anyway. He’s 45kgs so I’m extra careful….I don’t think he’d bite but he might give our postie a heart attack!
Nellie and Tippy are good with the postie! And often don’t even lift their heads!
Our dog Floyd doesnt care for post as it comes through the door but he likes to watch you open it then we will give him the envelope but he has never stolen post. He likes the postie but then again he likes everyone who comes to the door as he thinks that everyone is there to see him!
My too little angels (or monsters, depending on their mood!) love going bonkers at the postman. It seems to be a competion over who can make the most noise! We invested in a lockable post/parcel box for the front of the house, and I can honestly say it was one of the best things we’ve ever brought! Peaceful life for the postman, and no stress for the dogs. Especially good when I’m out, they get to sleep without being disturbed!
When Fargo my labradoodle was younger he used to chew up my post. He almost lost me a job once when he destroyed my contract I was sent. I didn’t know it had arrived until my new employer phoned to ask if I still wanted the job as they hadn’t received my signed contract. Luckily they saw the funny side when I explained that my dog had eaten it!
Fargo leaves the post alone now, but my youngest whippet Billy thinks it’s a really good fun to grab the post as it comes through the letter box. I was going to get an indoor post guard to stop this, but after reading Georgina’s advice I’ll be looking into an outdoor box instead. Thanks for this article, it’s really helpful.
Great article, we have lots of parcels delivered and luckily the dogs are quite friendly with the delivery men and the postmen. The cats are worse! When we have cat nip toys delivered and postie has put them through the cat flap we have come home to parcels ripped open such is their need for the nip!
Little Rascals
My boy LOVES the postie! In all honesty, he actually prefers what she brings! Frodo is a Dog for the Disabled. As soon as he sees/hears the postie, he’ll be waiting at the porch door until I give him the cue (‘Frodo, fetch post’ or, if it is still hanging through the letter box, ‘Frodo, pull-pull’). As I have limited dexteretity, he then helps me to remove the post from the envelope. And all of this for a tiny bit of kibble!
He also loves it when a parcel comes! I don’t have to break any cardboard boxes down to put in recycling – Frodo does it for me!
He can be a little over-enthusiastic/immature around visitors. When I open the front door, I have Frodo the other side of the porch door. I ask the visitor to ignore him, and get Frodo to focus on me – this tends to work rather well.
My advice when opening the front door is to make sure your dog is safely restrained. Accidents happen all to easily when a dog dashes out through the front door is spooked or sees something to chase!
We have a post box just the other side of the gate and my dogs(all 6 of them) greet Tony the postie every time he calls, they think he is wonderful because he always chats to them.
Some posties show aggression to dogs(I remember as a child the postman kicking out at our farm dog, and Don the collie never forgot!!!!)
Hope that all post people have a safe and dog friendly Christmas
Really good advice! Our dogs can’t get to the door as there is a gate in the way, but I really liked hearing that boxes on the inside of the door are useless as that was our experience years ago. Must think about getting a box put in the porch, as currently everyone dumps the post on the porch floor, even though the front door has a letterbox!
Our dogs Erin & Buck are well known by our postal worker, he calls Erin “Cujo”. When a package comes he rings the bell to notify us and we wait until he’s a safe distance before we open the door to retrieve it. It’s the UPS Person and substitute mail persons that we have to be careful with. I hold on to Erin or have a family member hold her if I have to sign for anything. At first our regular mailman was nervous just approaching our house because both are in the window barking like crazy at him. Now he’s totally indifferent to them and they don’t even bark much anymore when they see him coming. Love the Advent Calendar and good info in the post.
Wonderful info, thanks!
Prudence is pretty laid back when it comes to the mailmen here. Doorbell rings and she usually just glances up to see “who’s going to get that?”
I used to be a postwoman so I know how scarey some dogs can be while out on delivery.
I only got bitten once in the 10 yrs that I worked as postie.
It was as always the owners fault he had let his dog out in the garden as he thought I had already been.
I have 3 dogs who always bark and growl at the postie but I have a very large letter/post box at the front of my house so the postie does not have to come to the door.
I don`t have a letter box in my door either as they would only rip the mail to bits.
We used to have a village postman who always brought biscuits with him for the dogs. Unfortunately when he retired the new postman was beseiged by confused dogs looking for biscuits & he thought they were all attacking him!
My dog Toby (chihuahua x yorkie) begs at the postman when I open the door! Everyone thinks it’s so cute, like we taught him to do that, but it’s honestly just because he thinks every parcel is for him! He’s the same when we come home with the shopping, he begs at all the carrier bags!!
Mollie dog gets hugely fired up by the post arriving, although if you open the door and she sees the postie, she’s fine.
She will attack and kill anything that comes through the letterbox if she can get to it – mostly it’s not funny but we did have to laugh when she unwrapped and ate the corner of Victoria Stilwell’s book “it’s me or the dog” 😀
Brac finds her hysteria utterly bemusing and just watches her, then bimbles over to see what all the fuss is about. Or he’ll have a nibble on a shoe while she’s busy! We keep the hall door shut now, so they can’t get at anything they shouldn’t…
My two, Jess (GSD) and Poppy (JRT cross) unfortunately both race for the door when the post arrives; they hear the postman’s cart long before I do! Jess, particularly, grabs the letters and packages as they come through. Many a letter got torn; worse, the boys video and computer games, bought online, were also grabbed and the cases usually ended up with toothmarks in!
An outside box is not possible as our front door opens directly onto the street and the back gate is kept locked. However, I managed to find a very large cage to attach inside the letterbox; even the newspapers fit with no problem.
When we have a parcel delivery, Poppy goes in her crate and Jess goes upstairs behind the stairgate-they both know the drill and do it automatically when the bell rings! They even know when a delivery is imminent as they recognise the beeb-beep the vans make when they reverse outside the house!
So happy that we have the Advent Calendar again Karen…thank you for all your hard work!
Thanks for all your lovely comments, and thank you Karen for inviting me to be a part of your advent calender.
It’s great when you have a regular postie, but sadly this is becoming less common, I myself have a regular round, but am only part time, so the dogs have 2 of us to get used to.
I have a fab little dog on my round, who had become quite a handful for the owner, as he kept charging the door, he actually smashed his head through the front panel. So the owner has now taught him to collect the mail for him. And when they’re in the front garden he’ll trot over have a little cuddle, then I’ll hand him the post and send him inside.
I’ve had a few bites over the years, but the owners do tip well at christmas, haha. One poor guy didn’t notice me coming round the corner as he was getting his dog out the boot of his car, and the dog clocked me before he did, I probably could of scampered behind a gate, but I was more worried about the dog getting run over, so I took the bite so I could get hold of the dogs collar and get him safely back to the owner. I know what it’s like to be on the owners side, sometime you just need more eyes!
We just had a puppy and he is great he doesn’t bother with the post woman . In fact he went to say hello to her
Great way to kick off the advent calendar!
I’ve 3 greyhounds and both Mina and Stevie love to bark at the postman – they’ve not read the books that say greyhounds rarely bark! They can hear the postie’s van pull up and start barking before he even approaches the gate to our front path.
Jasper, on the other hand, is a bit of a sensitive soul and would rather keep out of the way of anyone knocking at the door. He generally scoots upstairs.
Stevie is also a shredder of post; I’ve often thought about hiring out his services to shred secure documents! But in all seriousness, when anyone comes to the door Mina & Stevie are told to settle on their beds in the front room and the door is shut before I open the front door. They are rather large dogs and could be quite frightening to an unsuspecting visitor to the front door.
Georgina – you’re a very brave woman to put up with dog bites and generally fab for being a postie and braving all the elements to deliver letters and parcels.
My dogs used to love my previous postman because he always had dog treats with him. He was a dog owner himself, so always loved seeing everyone’s dog and give them a treat.
I really had not seen the visit of the Postie from the dogs point of view before, but it all makes sense!
At the moment we are a one dog household and Coco can be rather exuberant at times, so we have a tried and tested routine for when someone comes to the door. For the Postie he sees it as a big game and brings the post to us, the Pony Express has nothing on him!
The same applies to the arrival of the daily newspaper.
When visitors come, he knows to sit and stay and once he has allowed the visitor into the house unhindered, the reward is a very special Kanga toy, which is reserved for these times only. Works a treat every time. He’s allowed to take Kanga off the bottom shelf himself and often presents it to the visitor (and then it is placed back on the shelf (poor Kanga has a very repetitive life)!
What fantastic advice! And good advice for anyone with dogs who is having visitors I reckon…we aren’t all dog fans after all 😉
What a fab idea, we put up an outside post box when we moved house many years ago, which worked a treat for a while, but now the postman can turn up any time, often not until the afternoon. This meant that we couldn’t allow the dogs out into the garden incase the postie hadn’t been.
We’ve overcome this now by putting another post box just outside the garden gate.
And the posties know that if the garden gate is shut the dogs are out so to use the bottom postbox. We even had one that signed for our mail for us and left it in the box.
To be honest, one of our dogs wouldn’t even be bothered getting up, and the other one would keep her distance, but they’re big dogs and as responsible owners its our job to make the posties life easier.
All four wait patiently for the biscuit that the postman brings them, they get very excited when they hear his van as they know it is biscuit time lol
Our postman comes after the girls breakfast, when it’s nap time – he could walk in, make a tea and out his feet up and i’m sure they wouldn’t notice.
Great to see the advent calendar is back this year, loved reading all the articles last year.
My dog topsy chiuahuah/poodle x yorkie, does a back flip and yaps madly, we do have a baby gate blocking the route out to the front door, the postman finds topsy funny x
Noddy climbs on the back of the chair for a closer look out of the window but he’s so big he almost topples it over. He’s a boxer so it’s act first … don’t think at all. Our postie says she loves coming up our path because Noddy always makes her smile the way he looks at her.
We have a baby gate to stop our 5 small dogs from meeting any visitors until they are quiet(er). The postman finds them amusing, bless them!
Great advice. We’ve been lucky so far as my postman really likes dogs.
Not a lot. He’s terrified of the post man!!!
Our dogs bark when the post is put through the door but love meeting the postman when parcels are delivered 🙂
What a good article which I am forwarding to my daughter. One of her dogs is a nightmare with the postman.Otherwise he is a beautifully behaved dog. Even her vet is puzzled as the dog does agility, goes out with her on her horse and is fine with other vistors. She lives in the country and therefore the postman has to come in the main gate to deliver and of course the dog is often outside. As it is at the moment she goes to her Post Office to collect the mail but it is really inconvenient.
Marie Prescott, it must be frustrating for your daughter. But the royal mail policy is if you feel in danger in any way, you can refuse to deliver to a house. And for some people just the sound of a dog barking behind the door can scare them enough to put them off. I hope she’s got a regular postie she can work with, and fingers crossed she wont have to keep on collecting.
I’ve concidered taking dog treats, but knowing what my weim’s like, alergic to everything, my little sensative soul, I don’t want to go upsetting puppy tummys :oS
I’m lucky to have a very calm dog so my postman is very happy 🙂
My dogs wait for the postie and all they want to do is lick her but I dont think she is as keen as them.
This is a great article! My postman is great as usually we meet him doing other roads and he always stops to talk to my dogs and give them a bickie! He also knows exactly where to put parcels as one of my dogs can be a bit of a terror!
I have one of those three part fireguards behind the front door, so the post drops behind it – Buffy gets rather overexcited when anything comes through the letterbox, which can make for a newvous postman even though she’d never hurt anyone!
My trio have usually gone back to bed for a snooze when our postie visits, lazy so & so’s :o)
Well Odie tries to put his must masculine sounding howl on to scare away the threatening postman, and Kiki tries her best to ignore all noise and curls up even tighter in bed!!
i have whippets , as you may know these are very quiet lazy docile freindly dogs …. apparently , however our youngest took to chewing every bit of mail that came through the box if i didnt rescue it , i tried hanging a bag on the back of the door to catch the post as a deterent , she ripped that off and ate that too !! , i was forced to buy a letter cage so now she just grumbles and looks at it !!
Daisy is my golden retriever puppy (8months old). If I have to answer the door to the posite she will run outside and jump up at the postie to give kisses lol. Kisses are fine but were working on the jumping lol.
Our Postie carries munchie stick treats, which I am sure are very useful to divert attention if he is feeling vulnerable, but I also wonder if by giving them to the dogs he is setting himself up to be bundled over again as the boisterous dogs then think “Ah, Postie = treats, woo!
brilliant idea….love the training tips for introducing the postie!! thankfully my dogs seem to leave normal mail well alone an don’t even bark when its posted through the door…..but if i need to get a parcel its a whole other ball game,my leg gets hooked round the door to stop them jumpin up to lick the postie to death while i keep my hands free to take said parcel an sign for it lol 😉 they do respond to the ”get back” command but only for approx 30seconds then its all excitement an wanting to say hi again!! will ask my postie if they’d mind being introduced so in future the dogs will know to sit an wait for a greeting like they do usual visitors,thanks 🙂
When the Postie posts through my door my dog reacts like mad and runs around the whole house like 50 times! I’m working on it but I’m sure it’s better than frightening the poor postie off!
Love the idea of some advice, training tips, the chance to help a charity and win nice doggie prizes! Thank you! We have an outside porch so thankfully our dogs don’t get near the post.
we always know when the postman is on his way round – our dogs hear him coming from halfway down the street!!
Dive bombs the door then takes parcels up to his bed, or under my bed to unwrap. The number of times, I’ve thought an Ebay parcel hasn’t arrived only to find it a week later under my bed or in the garden!
Our greyhound Mungo just doesnt seem to notice the postman unless he knocks with a parcel and then he bounces up and down squeaking and barking with excitement! Maybe he thinks one day it will be for him!!
Thank you everyone for visiting today. I will let you know our winners very soon! We have a special appeal tomorrow and we will need your help to spread the word. See you there! x Karen x
My 2 dogs have never once even bothered with the postman and i think even if they had the energy they still wouldnt bother lol but when i lived at home our family dog always used to rip the letters up
We taught Indie to pick up the post and exchange it for a treat so she thinks the Postie coming is good! Cooper we haven’t had so long and he’s still learning this trick – at the moment he sticks his head out the cat flap to check out the Postie properly!!
My jack russells are always waiting for postie!
my dog razzle only barks at postmen! Even if we pass one in the street he seems to know by the uniform 🙁
We had a problem with our English Springer Spaniel Tilly as whenever anybody came to the door she would run to the door barking and jumping up and sometimes if the door was open would eveen run out! But after some fantastic training sessions with Karen she now calmly lays down on the spot the minute the door bell goes and does not move until we say the word OK – brilliant!
my dogs have been trained from youg to stop at door ways and wait to be told to cross. They have never shown aggression and are keen to meet new people, especially builders who always drop biscuits!