It does seem strange to take a job as a postman if you're afraid of encountering dogs.
Im not afraid of dogs
Im afraid of the kinda dogs that are owned by people like the OP who watch their dogs through the window when the postie arrives and dont bother calling them in...
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AIBU
Postie's and dogs, a war of attrition with my new postie! Advice please!
(113 Posts)I live on a farm in rural country lane,and we have two dogs,they are two Staffies who I use as volunteer therapy dogs due to their friendly and gentle nature,we take these dogs everywhere and anyone who meets them loves them,well our two postie's share this route and have met my dogs from new pups,and actually knock on the door to see them if they are not out in the garden,the postie who replaces them on days off ,is the same.
As are our bin collectors etc.
Our garden goes around our cottage with a wrought iron gate with the country lane in front of it so we get farm and public traffic coming by.
Sorry to waffle but helps you understand the problem.
On my birthday on one of the hottest days of the year,I saw a parcel left outside the gates on the road side, they were a bouquet delivered by royal mail,the chocolate inside were in a melted puddle,and the flowers so wilted they were dead by the end of the day,then on another day i saw a new postman ramming our post in the bars of the iron gate,this included folded over birthday cards,this has happened with other items,and I really got fed up when a contactless card in a Halifax envelope was hanging out of the gate, when I saw one of our regular postman I asked what was going on ,he said there was a new postman appointed and in his words " was terrified of barking dogs" he also said they had told him that these were lovely dogs and he had known them all there lives,and they have been tested and used as therapy dogs,
Since then I have noticed we have gone from having daily post to barely getting any,we have had daily post always and things were not arriving..
I complained to the post office and they had him Interviewed and said he has a duty to leave post secure,as he isn't doing that,he now refuses to post at all ,and they want us to pick up most from a office nine miles away,the customer service said that as our post could come between 8.30 to 3.00,it's not practical to keep the dogs in for all that time,the manager said he was told by other postie's that there is no problem ,but he won't budge,he was asked would be like to meet them with me,and he refused,.
I feel really cross! They have not done anything,never have and have plenty of support from those who know them,and now we have considerable problems to get it post!
In a farm area,he is going to come across dogs,if he is that terrified ,should he be doing this job!
What do you think,! I would welcome your views!
It does seem strange to take a job as a postman if you're afraid of encountering dogs.
Regardless of whether they are friendly or not, a dog bounding towards someone who is afraid is frightening.
I know that spiders can't harm me, but still I wouldn't want one near me.
What about a plastic dustbin? Our neighbour had a collie which liked to take possession and kill any letters which came through the door and was overfriendly and very bouncy with anyone coming to the door if he was outside. So they had a black dustbin (the sort with clips to hold the lid on) just outside the gate with POST written on the top and a couple of bricks in the bottom to stop it blowing away. Worked a treat.
But the situation with the postie is nothing to do with being scared of dogs!
As I hope many of the posts above have pointed out.
Farmnanjulie said Thanks for all your comments! It's really helping me! I have loads of ideas,I am interested to hear from those who are scared of dogs as well
That sounds like she appreciated advice from people trying to be helpful.
There followed some very critical posts which she didn't appreciate.
No wonder.
What has that got to do with it, Bluebelle? That could happen to any dog owner whose dog is in the house with them.
They could think they were guarding their mistress.
It’s funny jalima how people ask for advice get lots of good suggestions but it’s not what they want to hear how ever nicely it’s put I guess we were all supposed to say horrid postman lovely dogs ( and I m sure they are) but you have to look at the bigger picture
What if she fell and called 999 and the dogs didn’t want to let the paramedics into their territory
I think farmnanJulie has probably gone as she didn't hear what she wanted to hear.
My granddaughter gave up her paper round the only job open to her at 13/14 because she was just too terrified by the dogs that flew crashing and barking at the door and although her logic knew they couldn’t get to her the very noise of them pounding and barking agreesivly at the other side of the door made it very uncomfortable for her she stuck it for as long as she could as she desperately wanted to earn some money but was too nervous to continue She knew they weren’t necessarily aggressive dogs but they acted aggressively as she pushed the paper into their domain
I was a Postie in the late 60's and I was walking along a street when a dog saw me and came out barking. The dog ran into the street and was hit by a car! I don't know where he came from as there were no houses nearby but it seems that my uniform set him off!
Having said that, I do not fear dogs although I am not a dog person. I have a good defence against any attacking dog! I roar at them! My kids laugh as the dog yelps and retreats!
Having been bitten a couple of times by dogs, one thing I have noticed. Dogs when they are with their owners may be the best behaved and most loving dogs around, but when their owners are not around, they often become over protective and behave like guard dogs.
Many years ago, whilst delivering some milk to a Lady, I asked if I could use her Loo. She had 3 chows which were gorgeous, so friendly, making a fuss of me as we walked into her house. All was well until I tried to get out of the Loo. The 3 of them, waiting outside the door, turned on me baring their teeth and tried to push the door wide open to get to me. The owner, who had gone into the kitchen heard my shouts and managed to call the dogs off. She was absolutely horrified. I did not blame her as it was so obvious that she was unaware what her dogs were capable of, but it was so scary.
"Work arounds" you could have offered:
An intercom at the gate for him to ring so you can either call in the dogs or go out to meet him. Fencing the path to the door. Keeping the dogs in/tied if you pop out before the postie has been (& calling them in when he arrives if you are in). Letter box at gate etc
Thanks Fennel, for some reason I couldn't find that to link.
P.s. I like staffies
I dislike staffie owners who insist that staffies are all "misunderstood nanny dog". They're still dogs. Your "babies" are capable of biting, even if they haven't bitten anyone yet, and if you are the kind of irresponsible owner who imposes your dog on people who don't like dogs (and are therefore skittish around dogs) then the chances of your dog getting spooked and biting increases drastically, because of you!
I totally agree with the majority on here, it is up to you to make provision for you letters and parcels and not expect anybody to walk through two unknown Staffies who can gang up against a stranger especially a nervous stranger
What a cheek codfather saying a postman should only do the job if he likes dogs and is comfortable with them, what about community nurses, a doctor, a paramedic or a delivery nab having to go to houses are they all not allowed a job in case there’s a dog present, just ridiculous
I wonder if it’s part of their job description .... must be dog lover If you want your post delivered to your house get a large box and stop blaming the poor man Your dogs may be wonderful for you and your family but not everyone will automatically find them wonderful and all dogs however lovely can be unpredictable if they think they someone is entering their territory
I like dogs but I wouldn’t walk up your path with two staffies running towards me, well any strand dog, but due to a staffies jaw make up if they do bite they lock
P.s. I grew up on a farm. Working dogs aren't generally kept in front gardens in rural communities. He is not being unreasonable to take a rural postie job and expect to get to front entrances without encountering dogs.
On farms back yards are usually fenced/separate from front gardens. So no, he shouldn't expect to have dogs running round him just because its a rural/farm community.
You like having a big open plan wrap around garden (which isnt a typical farm/rural style) then you may have to accept that some posties wont go into it.
Farmnanjulie, the " negative stuff" is from you, actually. Your postie does not have to put up with your attitude or your dogs.
And I'm sorry if you feel like that FarmnanJulie but I remember that you have posted before about your dogs and the fact that they are both nervous animals and become anxious at certain noises.
Tilly is frightened of ,plastic packaging,people wearing animal hats,especially panda hats,wheels on a wheely bin, guitars,stuffed toys of dogs,any power tool, red balls ,pigeons,shoes and much more! Max the older brother hates noises, he will pant and walk about,and not settle,but Tilly will do all these and wet herself!
No wonder the postman won't come through the gate.
Yes, unfortunately, I think YABU
I think you have had some very helpful advice, some of it from dog-lovers - you just don't like the advice!
You complained about this poor man and put his job on the line - do you really feel comfortable about that? It was a dreadful thing to do. He probably has a family and a mortgage that you were happy to put in jeopardy!
You should have chatted to him and tried to come to some sort of agreement about how your post could be safely delivered, instead of reporting him and making his life difficult. Why would you want to do that? That is just plain unkind.
I am intrigued by the idea that you supervise your dogs through the window - do you never go for a pee!!??
It is irrelevant how friendly you think your dogs are, it is not unreasonable for people to refuse to work with any free roaming dogs at their heels.
You will have to offer a compromise. Either be there to call them in when the postie beeps or a post box or some other arrangement, otherwise he is not unreasonable to refuse to deliver to your address.
FWIW you don't sound like a sensible dog owner if you don't get that other peoples dislike of your dogs isnt subject to whether or not you think your dogs are likeable. Decent dog owners ALWAYS call their dogs away from strangers unless the strangers express an interest in them. If you behaved as a responsible owner it may not have come to this.
We can only know what you have posted and respond accordingly.
You may know that your dogs are lovely, friendly and would never harm anyone, but others do not.
Obviously you didn't want the views of others, you just wanted it confirmed that the postman was in the wrong.
Well so much negative stuff here! The dogs are not unsupervised I can see them from the kitchen window,cannot weekend gate,and only when the stuff is pushed through,do i know what has happened,people are presuming all the wrong things ,and far to many unpleasant comments
So am not bothering with this anymore,meant to be helpful not Insulting,and as I don't see people for days ,was meant for someone to chat to!
Thanks for the helpful advice!
Responsible and courteous dog owners know to keep them under control - if you want your post delivered, then you need to think of the postman.
It is ridiculous to say that he should not be a postman - he needs a job just like everyone else to pay his bills. Tolerating dogs is not part of his job - he is there to deliver post and your side of the bargain is that you keep your dogs under control.
You have lots of suggestions here - time to act on them!
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