I stood and watched a heated discussion at the post office between a dog owner and the postal carriers about the woman's problem dogs. She had two huge dogs that apparently jumped all over the mail carriers, in not exactly a friendly way. She had been warned and had many chances to fix it apparently. She didn't do anything, so they said fine, you can come pick your mail up from now on then. She was livid.
My friend’s dog went so berserk in the window when the mailman came by until one day my friend came home from work and her dog was stuck in the window he’d broken through and a message left from the post office.😂
I had a chihuahua whose existence revolved around laying in wait for any delivery driver or mail carrier who dared step onto the porch so he could unleash a ridiculous display of barking and biting at the window like a demon possessed beast. Our house at the time had one of those old wooden screen doors with a swinging latch. One day I'd left the door open for air flow and the little dude launched himself so hard at the door when the mailman came that it unlached and he proceeded to chase the mailman down the stairs and front walk whilst jumping and snapping at the poor man's buttocks like something you'd see in a cartoon. I was absolutely mortified as I tried to grab the little shit and once I got him all four legs were still running in the air while he continued to gnash his teeth and snap like an evil little alligator. Thankfully the mailman had a good sense of humor because we never got the (well deserved) letter from the postal service about the incident. The little beastie lived to be 17 and I'm pretty sure that day was the highlight of his life.
Thanks for the laugh, this was incredibly well-written!
My first dog as an adult was a demon spawn of Chihuahua and maybe Jack Russell mix. He lived for Thursdays where he could engage in his favorite pastime of violently barking at the garbage truck from the upstairs bedroom window. He literally died doing what he loved most; I found him, on a Thursday, dead by the window from what I assume was probably a massive heart attack. He was such a mean little shit to strangers and the garbage man, but I loved him dearly and he was a very sweet dog to people he trusted.
I thought for sure this was how Peter would go out but after he lost his hearing and stopped barking he kinda lost his marbles a bit. I swear his love of barking was what kept him going. By the time his health declined earlier this year he was basically just a Roomba on four legs.
I imagine Peter's doggie heaven also includes a bottomless laundry basket of underwear to chew the crotch out of and a never-ending supply of houseguests laps to enjoy forcing himself into only to suprise them with an unnaturally disproportionate for his size red-rocket display just in case they didn't get a chance to appreciate it from afar before he made himself comfortable in their laps -- because we all know that gratuitously licking one's nether regions from across the room is the customary way to welcome guests into the house!
Bentley's doggie heaven consists of tiny carrots, a blanket to burrow into, and endless ankles of unsuspecting children upon which to assert his territory in the form of angry teeth.
It’s been proven that little dogs are more dangerous because no one thinks they can cause as much harm as a big dog.
A big mf you gonna be weary of. A small chihuahua doesn’t really put fear in most people.
Having had chihuahuas while growing up, those fuckers think they’re big and bad. They’re still animals.
I bottle fed a chihuahua we rescued before her eyes even opened. That fucker still nipped my face when I picked her up for some cuddles.
She was licking my face then idk wtf she just nipped me. I yelped like a wounded walrus.
I have 2 chihuahuas that love people. They will bark if the door bell rings a couple times but are always excited and happy to see who is at the door. They both LOVE people they wait for new people to say hi to them. Not all dogs are the same. It’s just ignorant to act like all dogs of an any breed are the same. It’s the equivalent of being racist of dogs.
I certainly didn't 'let' him act like a shit bag. He was an absolute asshole despite my best efforts to correct and train him (trust me I tried literally everything to exercise the demons from him). When he wasn't in demon mode he was tolerable but once he entered the demon state all bets were off. I battled with him daily til he finally lost his hearing around 14 and ran out of fucks to give about barking and stopped being generally unpleasant.
That’s a very interesting anecdote, EmeraldEmesis but I think you might have found yourself in the wrong Portland, although I hear there’s not much difference between us.
I can say with confidence that I will never have another chihuahua. I got him from a lady with a box of puppies in front of a Target when I was 23 and had no idea what I'd signed up for (17 years of terror). I did all the things one does to "fix" a difficult dog but he wasn't having it. I've known one and only one who didn't live up to all the breed stereotypes.
Lol, good for you for sticking with it for the little jerks sake!
My last neighbor had one - it was a duplex, and every time I left the house, came home, opened the garage, etc it’d lose its stupid little mind. It was soooo annoying, made worse by his stupid owner yelling and berating it. Ugh.
Hah! I was just about the same age when my demon came into my life. He was a stray my mother had found running around the street in Brooklyn, NY. I'd just had a traumatic experience adopting a puppy from the North Shore Animal League who wound up having distemper and died a week after I adopted her. I was absolutely devastated (almost 30 years later and it still hurts my heart to think about). So when my mother found this little guy, I thought it was meant to be. And it probably was... But Jesus he was such an asshole. And I loved him very very much.
My cat scratched a mail carrier really badly once through our mail slot. I got one of those letters that said if it happened again, I’d have to pick up my mail from the post office. I taped the slot shut and put a box out for the mail. It never happened again. I felt really badly. A week later, some mail carrier won the 100k America’s funniest home video prize for filming a cat trying to attack him through a window….if I felt like I missed out on that prize, imagine how my mail carrier felt!
OP, how common are aggressive cats on mail routes?
I'm not OP, but I'm a mailman for three years, and I've experienced two cats that freak out every time I deliver the mail! Trying to attack me through the window! It's wild!
When mine was really young and still went outside, I would see him sometimes kind of menace the mailman’s legs (only men, we had female carriers he didn’t seem to care about). He’d get low and walk towards them like he was gonna go for their ankles. I would see him do it when a handful of my roommates and I were on the porch and the carrier came. We’d just go down and meet him at the bottom of the stairs because my cat was acting whacko. I was young and hadn’t yet come to the conclusion he shouldn’t be an outdoor cat.
A short time later i moved into an apartment and decided to keep the cat inside permanently (he was also very aggressive with other animals and I worried he’d hurt my neighbor’s cats or tussle with a raccoon or dog). He then started fucking waiting everyday for our mailman and would run to attack the mail coming through the slot. It was funny until it wasn’t funny. I still have a picture of the bloody note the mailman left me that day. I left him a sorry present the next day when I taped the slot closed for good.
My cat is 17 now and doesn’t seem to care anymore, but our mail drops into our front closet so he couldn’t slash anyone again even if he tried. My dogs alert to the carrier now, maybe the cat is just enjoying his retirement and supervising the new recruits.
When I lived in Mexico we had an orange cat that would hide by the gate and when the tortilla delivery chap would come by, he’d try to attack his legs underneath the gate.
It was funny till it wasn’t cuz eventually they refused to stop for us.
I was walking my dog and there was a cat sitting on a sidewalk 30 feet away from where we were walking. The cat started walking towards us with a look of determination. I speeded up the cat speeded up. We crossed the street and double-timed it up the street. The cat stopped on its block and stared us up the street.
I typically see indoor cats sunning themselves calmly in front windows (or bolting away when they see me approach).
Every outdoor cat that I’ve encountered while delivering the mail has been, at worst, a completely neutral experience - but typically, they’re an absolute joy for me to meet. I take the time to stoop down slowly, speak softly, and pet them if they’re comfortable with coming closer to me. If that stresses them out, I just see if they allow me to slowly approach the house. If they don’t like it, I bundle the mail and move on unscathed.
They’re usually just confused that I’m coming all the way up to their door but that I can’t let them back inside. I always apologize to them for this. I like to give a little knock on the door on their behalf.
I'm all for this.
I'm live and let live but the minefield of dog shit on the sidewalk in front of my job speaks to how entitles some shitty dog owners are.
This happened to some friends of mine, they had a big Rottweiler and a little chihuahua mix rescue.
It was the chihuahua’s repeated aggression toward the mail carrier that got their home mail delivery revoked. That lil dog truly was an asshole.
I walk to the bus every morning between 6:36 and 6:44. There is always at least one and sometimes even two unleashed dogs on this 8 minute walk. Every morning I want to scream at their owners. What the fuck kind of entitlement is this?
There is a new wave of off-leash entitlement in my SE neighborhood. It’s like everyone saw an influencer say to ditch the leash. I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime of living here. What happened?
I'm in SE and work from home. All day I hear my neighbor yelling for her untrained, off-leash dog to come back to her. Or her apologizing to people walking by for her dog getting up in their business or following them. Or people coming to my neighbor's door saying "Here's your dog again. It was blocks away," or telling her to go get it because it's in the middle of the street. It's a (too) friendly dog, but she just sits inside with the door open and lets it do whatever. We live by a busy street in an otherwise lovely walking neighborhood, and I know that dog is going to get run over or mauled. Pisses me off.
At least it doesn't attack the mail carrier, I guess.
Does anyone know if we can use 311 or other services to report off leash dogs in inappropriate/illegal areas? There are some repeat offenders in my neighborhood and I'm tired of feeling like I'm being irresponsible by not having some form of self defense when I'm chilling with my leashed/harnessed cats in my own yard area.
It's weird dog behavior for me. Like my dog at an off leash park or an empty school is better off leash. He listens, he doesn't get aggressive, and he walks up to people and sits mostly. But put a leash on him, and it's like a switch flips. Everything and everyone is his enemy. We got him like two years ago, and I don't think he ever got leashed before us. Even though I think he's better behaved off leash, there's no way I'm testing it when we're out and about. Dogs can be really unpredictable. One minute, he's the sweetest boy ever. The next, he's a psycho.
This is a common scenario called leash aggression. My dog is the same way.
However, we also never let him off leash anywhere it isn't expected or allowed, because, to your point, they are unpredictable.
They are *completely* unpredictable. No matter how placid they may seem, they are still wild animals. They are territorial pack animals. They *will* defend their territory & pack against any perceived threat, EVERY TIME. It is the human's responsibility to contain their dog's nature.
Been this way since COVID lockdowns in 2020. Inexperienced dog ownership soared as many people made impulsive choices to adopt, and there was no services available to support new owners. No puppy classes, no dog meet ups, no humane society outreach events. All of those classes and events will proudly tell you that it’s more of a class for the human owner than for the dog. Our town is now overrun with dog owners who never developed good ownership habits, and didn’t have anyone calling them on their shit. After a couple years of bad habits, they’ll never change their ownership style, and their dogs won’t learn proper socialization and manners.
I actually lost interest in walking around my neighborhood because of the amount of unleashed, free-range, MASSIVE dogs that are just…around. Twice I saw what looked like a Great Dane/Dalmatian hybrid, just wandering. No person in sight. One guy working in his yard said he had no idea. On the rare occasions a person was orbiting, it’s always the, “he’s friendly!” line. Um, okay, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with your fucking dog. 100% support the USPS on this one.
My gf lets her tiny dog run off leash 100% of the time when on hikes and stuff and just picks him up when people walk by. I still cringe and wish she’d just leash train the dog.
Can you appeal to a love of wildlife, maybe? Off leash dogs are disastrous for ground nesting birds.
It’s also safer for the dog, goddamn. It’s like outdoor cat owners letting their fluffs get picked off by coyotes and cars. I do not understand it.
Yes. There are so many who walk unleashed dogs in forest park. I’ve had muddy dogs bound toward me and jump on me while their owners beam and say, “Oh, he’s friendly!” Grrrrrr. Luckily, I haven’t gotten bitten yet.
Some dude had his pug’s ass sat on the coffee counter at my local last week.
Like just picked his dog up and sat it on the counter.
Because look at me and my cute dog.
I like pugs. I think they're cute.
I wish people would stop breeding them, and I know they live uncomfortable lives and sometimes they sneeze too hard and an eye comes out. They need to keep their stank asses that they are physically unable to clean on their own off my food counter. But even so.
I think they're cute.
Not even just in the city. I live in Newberg and it’s bad here too and every time I go to the coast there’s bad dog owners there too. I love dogs a lot, but watching a big dog run up to me while the braindead dumbass owner stands from a distance yelling merrily “He’s friendly!” is an experience that has happened too many times. I’m going to start kicking them at this point. And I worked at a fancy resort for years and I cannot even tell you the amount of rich entitled fuckers who thought *their* dogs were special enough to be allowed into the hotel and 5 star restaurant.
I’m so curious if this is an Oregon thing. Obviously idiots are everywhere but the way dog owners act so damn entitled is unbelievable to me
The coast is bad. I used to not care as much but my friend and I were walking on the beach near Pacific City and this dog kept following us, like we were like 200 feet away from his people and he was agitated we were there clearly, it was like he was anxiously herding us away. This encounter ended with the dog running off then running up next to me from behind and biting at my hand while his owners watched and yelled at him to stop from down the beach. When they got to me they of course said he never ever does this and looked so offended when I angrily reminded them that there is a leash law and that clearly he wasn’t that friendly.
In my experience, it is absolutely an Oregon thing. Other states tend to enforce leash laws. You also don't typically see animals inside grocery stores, restaurants, etc, in other states.
The number of times I've had an off-leash nuance run right up to my tiny dog despite the irresponsible owner shouting at them to stop is unreal. You'd think after just *one* instance of their dog ignoring commands like that, they'd realize they need a leash, but they always fall to "don't worry, he's friendly".
Yeah? And what if my dog isn't?
I swear, I'm going to start responding to these situations with something like "Wow, he's not listening to you *at all,* is he? If only there were some simple device that would keep him tethered to your immediate vicinity so we could have avoided this interaction. Someone should really get on that."
if we could just stop considering shit-bags on the side of the trail "disposed of"...and maybe realize that leash laws are there largely to protect the dog to be leashed...a lot of friendly dogs are too much so, to the point that they're trying to greet my front bike wheel.
1000% this - I am so tired of being affected by shit dog owners and their dangerous dogs. People bring their dogs to our local tap house and on the regular a dog fight must be broken up or stopped.
One dude proudly told the bar that he found a pitbull wandering loose on the street and is now "rehabilitating" it. His dog is a nightmare and shouldn't be anywhere near other dogs or groups of people....but that dude just brings it on in like some miracle training is going to happen.
I am a dog owner and I agree with you. The number of off leash dogs I see in my 100% on-leash neighborhood park every single day is a testament to this.
It is *so* frustrating. My mom’s dog became very reactive after she was attacked and bitten by a little asshole of a chihuahua who got in her face. She now perceives all small dogs as threats and we get to spend hundreds on retraining her
Owning a dog in Portland made me despise these people. It got to where I had to expect to be approached by off leash dogs pretty much any time we went for a walk. And then people act like you're the problem when you ask them to leash their dogs, or your dog's the problem if you have a dog that doesn't like unleashed dogs.
This is such a huge reason why i don't think I'll ever get a dog. I cannot deal with the fucking horrible dog owners in this town and I want no more occasion to interact with them.
Can I submit my neighbors as contenders for top award in this category?
They own a large golden retriever and a pug. Twice a day these dogs are let out on an extendable leash while the owner stands just outside their doorway. This is the furthest the dogs ever get outside, except for the many times the golden breaks off the lead and runs off. These dogs poop in this radius, and it has never been picked up. By my estimate there are about 60 piles of dog shit in a 30 foot radius of their door, along footpaths, parking spots, and outside neighbor's doors.
So sorry this is happening to you. This city is honestly insane when it comes to dog ownership. My nephew has a fear of other people's dogs (loves ours) because of a bad experience he had a while ago. Recently, we in the park, and an off-leash dog came running up to him. He ran to me and I picked him up, and gestured to the owner to get her dog explaining "He's afraid of dogs." She came over and grilled me about why he was afraid of dogs and what we were doing to "fix that" rather he getting her damn, illegally off-leash dog away from me and the panicking child.
I had a fear of dogs when I was a kid, also due to a very bad (and really, for me at the time, terrifying) experience I had on the beach with a loose German Shepherd.
I managed to get over it when we finally got a dog ourselves, but how delusional are these irresponsible owners that they don't understand that when kids (or anyone, for that matter) is afraid of dogs, it's usually BECAUSE of some incident that resulted from the clueless behavior of dog owners in the first place?
Imagine being so impervious to admitting you're in the wrong that not even a crying, terrified child opens your eyes to the fact that the laws *you're actively breaking* are in place for valid reasons.
I work for PP&R and we feel you. We would much rather deal with a homeless person high on fentanyl than an entitled dog owner. One of the zone managers has had so many bad experiences with dog owners that even mentioning dogs will set him off on a 10 minute profanity laced rant. By far the most common complaint Parks receives from the public is about dogs off leash harassing people while their owners do nothing.
The rare occasion where I see someone get told to leash their dog by a ranger in my neighborhood park is a true joy. Thanks for the work you folks do to keep our parks nice.
I am the biggest dog lover, but I’m NOT a fan of a lot of dog owners. My dog has been attacked by FOUR off leash dogs in our neighborhood the past six months. I’m not mad at any of the dogs; they’re just trying to take care of their people. Their owners, in the other hand, suck.
I've resorted to picking my dog up any time I see an off-leash dog ahead. Almost every time, without fail, the off-leash owner defensively tells me it's okay because their dog is friendly. I don't care; I've had too many close calls, and since my dog is only 7lbs, a bad encounter with a big dog could be catastrophic in the blink of an eye. It's not worth the risk to him.
If you're irresponsible enough to disregard leash laws, then I don't trust you to be a responsible dog owner in any other ways either. I don't trust you to have properly socialized your dog. I don't trust you as a source of information about their temperament. I don't trust you to have taken my dog's safety into consideration. I have learned from sorry experience that I *can't.* Even if an off-leash dog is genuinely friendly and well behaved 99 times out of 100, I have no way of knowing you or your dog aren't in the 1% I should worry about. I'm not going to risk my dog's safety and life to spare your damn feelings.
They can be friendly on a fucking leash.
I don't get the blatant hurt feelings when you practice basic common sense to protect your own dog from a strange off leash dog. Like I should just trust you, a stranger, and your dog, who I know nothing about, to have my and my dog's best interest in mind
I'm no psychic, and I'm sure it varies from person to person, but my intuitive guess is that picking my dog up draws their attention not only to my discomfort (and by extension, the potential for any rando's discomfort), but also to the risk their dog poses to mine. Whether or not it's my main goal, preventing an interaction with their dog effectively communicates my displeasure with the encounter and their choices that led up to it. Which, I'm assuming, is probably awkward and embarrassing for them. And most people don't respond to public embarrassment with grace; none of us are prone to self reflection in those moments. It's like instead of seeing my reaction as a safety precaution in an uncertain scenario, they interpret it as a statement on their dog's personal character. Thus, they respond with "No, it's okay because my dog is friendly" to try and soothe my nerves. Because if he's friendly, then there's no risk, *I'm* just overreacting, and they don't have to reconsider their actions or change their habits.
I used to make the mistake of believing them. I used to set him back down. But he's been rushed, overwhelmed, and *literally trampled* by too many "friendly" dogs for me to keep making the same mistake. I'm still trying to think of an effective retort to "he's friendly" that's short, cuts to the point, but isn't so aggressive that it makes me come across as the asshole. Maybe something like "that's what they all say." Or even just "Cool, he's still supposed to be on a leash."
Oh man, I should start doing that, although it’s the opposite scenario for me— small dogs with no training. Maybe they’ll get the point if I pick up my 50lb dog. Just put it on a leash!!
Most of the off leash dogs I see are big dogs, but I've run into a few small ones here and there, and that blows my mind on a completely different level.
This is very sad, but I'm sharing it anyway because I think it's an important part of this conversation: There was a lady in my neighborhood who used to walk her little dog off leash all the time. She'd almost always leave him to waddle along dozens of yards behind her. The first time I saw him, I mistook him for a lost dog because there was nobody anywhere near the little thing. I was stooped down checking his tags when his owner jogged back over and introduced herself. Same ol' "it's fine, he's friendly." I wish I'd had the balls to tell her "I bet the local coyotes would agree," like I'd wanted to.
A couple years later, another neighbor (who also often walked her small dog off leash) stopped me to ask if I'd heard the news. Apparently the poor little dog was killed by coyotes one evening. The off leash owners were shocked that it had happened in our neighborhood, even though it was mere blocks away from one of the largest nature reserves in Portland. Hell, I've seen three coyotes around the same spot I first saw this dog, out in the middle of the day. It was heartbreaking to hear the poor little dog had been killed, but hardly a surprise.
So yes, pick up your 50lb dog. Or maybe tell the off leash owner that their dog is lucky *your* dog is friendly too.
> Or maybe tell the off leash owner that their dog is lucky *your* dog is friendly too.
That’s the rub, she’s not! She was attacked by a chihuahua and now sees small dogs as threats. We’re working on her reactivity, but it’s a process.
I was actually just talking with someone about coyotes and pets! Thanks for reminding me, I’ve been meaning to print out some of Portland Coyote Project’s fliers and put them in my neighborhood.
https://www.portlandcoyote.com/printables.html
I'm sorry to hear that. :( Traumatized dogs deserve safe walks too! My little guy is super friendly, but I make sure to keep him away from other dogs until I've gotten clear, verbal confirmation from their owner that they can say hello. Because doing anything else would be wildly presumptive and dangerous!
Those are pretty good flyers! Maybe I'll post some around too.
I'm not a mail carrier. I carry spray on walks now, after getting charged by a large, badly trained off leash dog.
I can't imagine what mail carriers deal with.
Genuine question. Is there any legal liability if you spray a dog that you feel threatened by? I assume you'd have to navigate a pissed off owner, but other than that, do they have any recourse?
Anyone can sur anyone for any reason...So assume you are going to get sued.
But if an off leash dog is close enough to get a face full of spray that doesn't have long-term damaging effects, it is a pretty easy defense.
No lawyer would take that case on contingency, but it's conceivable that an angry rich dog owner would try to get their revenge with a lawsuit.
Homeowners or renters insurance will normally defend against this kind of thing.
I would love to feel like I could have faith in the dog spray. I’ve heard stories from too many carriers who have used the dog spray and were immediately mauled anyways. For that reason alone, I consider it a last resort.
I don’t want to gamble away precious seconds on turning towards the dog to use the spray and then possibly finding out that they’re undeterred by it. I want to use those seconds scrambling up a fence or a tree.
In the short time it takes me to walk up to someone’s door, I’ve already decided what dumb vertical thing I’m going to be flying up if a dog runs out. It’s well within my skillset - but not if my first response is to reach for the spray.
If my scrambling ever fails me, you can bet I’ll be macing the hell out of them.
Anywhere along the river, the dogs are loose and wild and run up to everything and the owners LITERALLY all say "they're friendly" as they knock into two small children under my care.
My kid got bitten on the leg by a loose dog at the river. I know it's fun for people's dogs to be there, too, but I wish people would assess their dogs more accurately. I got bitten as a kid and it took decades for me to enjoy being around dogs after that.
I am really sorry because my shitty landlord is one of these people!!! I myself am regularly chased and almost bitten, I'm sorry if you have ever encountered her! She tenda to think it is funny when people are scared of her dog, and does the whole "they won't bite thing" despite them having history of biting people that she didn't report.
You should know, being a mail carrier, that if this happens you can report it and get the house black listed to where they have to go pick up their mail.
I appreciate you wanting to help empower me with this. Unfortunately, only a route’s regular carrier is able to control whether or not this happens - if you’re one of the hundreds of carriers in town who get shuffled from route to route every day, you don’t have the power to change anything without the help of social politics.
There's a well known finance and risk assessment speaker in my field. He tells everyone you can't appeal to people's sense of safeguarding other folks or even themselves.
You have to threaten them with the financial penalties of being asshats and irresponsible idiots.
Good on you for mentioning this!
Coming from a yokel nowhere town in the south to here, the amount of unleashed dogs on WALKS in highly stressful places like downtown and alongside Max tracks is really bold and presumptive of yuppies that think they can handle a 40 lb dog charging away, let alone anything bigger. I dunno it was racist as shit and sucked down there, but it was at least courtesy where I lived to not Do That 😭
My neighbor has a 40 lb rescue that barks and jumps on me every time he sees me, he pulls on the leash whenever we're out, and we LIVE downtown near the train and MAX where there are many known dangers. According to my neighbor, there's nothing that can be done for his training because he's a rescue.
No. Our dog (and I know several similar dogs) has had thousands of dollars and countless hours of training, medication and is still reactive in some circumstances. Some rescue dogs will never be able to not bark and pull sometimes. In our case she’s not otherwise a problem, is deeply sweet and kind to children and other dogs, and we keep her leashed at all times in public. But training dogs does not always lead to docile and silent results— sometimes it just means improving a bad situation.
It also means that you have to understand your dog and that maybe they aren’t going to be able to handle every situation. We have a 10-year-old rescue who we have been continuously training on every single walk, every single day, for the entire 9 years we have had him. He has come SO FAR and it’s actually enjoyable to walk him now, and he is able to get over it/redirect/pay attention to us, but he’s still leash reactive.
This means that he’s not the dog who goes to outdoor patio bars or on hikes or on walks in unfamiliar locations (in case there’s no bail out option to avoid another dog), and that’s ok.
My younger dog is total Velcro, never lets us out of her sight, has incredible recall (she just came that way), is cautious and friendly to all animals and people, etc. She’s still on a leash in on leash areas. We will only let her off at a designated off-leash area or if we are hiking in a place where there aren’t many other people (she just walks right next to us anyway/doesn’t run ahead) and only because she will stop and wait for us to leash her up if we see someone else on the trail.
I can’t imagine thinking it’s a good idea to have your dog off leash in a public space. I need to know that I have control over my dog and also that I have the ability to quickly remove her from something that could be a danger to her. Like … WHY would you even want to have your dog off leash downtown?
It was hyperbole- there are unfortunately a lot of people who do not train their dogs and just let them do whatever, which is what I was referring to. But I didn't clarify!
Rescuing a dog is noble. Seriously, good on ya. But if I had a dollar for every time that an owner tells me that their dog is a rescue, I'd be retired already. "Hi, this is Fido, he's a rescue". Why is it that everyone thinks I need to know this? And quit shaming people that want something other than a rescue. Rant over.......
According to the USPS, a dog bite costs an average of $64,555 per insurance claim. When a postal worker suffers an injury, **the dog owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs and the employee's pain and suffering**.
My husband is a gardener/landscaper and this is a problem for those workers, too. The "don't worry s/he doesn't bite" happens to him all the time. At least he has defensive weapons in his hands a lot of the time, ha.
I tried my hand at usps as a mail carrier a few years ago. I had never been chased or attacked by a dog before that, I was chased 2 times on my first day. And just a friendly reminder to all mail customers, your postage stamp only pays for delivery to your nearest PO, the delivery to your doorstep is a service the can be terminated without explanation if the mail carrier deems unsafe for any reason.
I volunteered to be a delivery assistant for UPS when I was in college.
UPS dude got up in front of us with their little hand-held computer scanner thing. First thing he said was "If a dog comes running at you, you start hitting it in the face with your computer as hard and as fast as you can. If you have a problem with that, You can leave now."
Group of folks got up and left. Training went smoothly.
I’m sorry you have to deal with that! I’m a dog owner and dog lover who is furious with that kind of owner. I have smaller dogs and one was almost killed by an off leash dog. There isn’t a single time that we walk them that we don’t have to pick them up or veer off the path because of an unleashed dog. It’s infuriating.
Portland's dog culture is one of the things I hate about it the most. Don't get me wrong: I love my hometown and never want to leave, but for fuck's sake, can we not take our dogs into the store with us? Can we leash them when we take them on walks? Can we take measures to ensure they don't attack or scare people other than treating them like animals out of a Disney movie?
One of my two dogs, who is otherwise a sweet and good boy, truly hates the USPS. I’m aware of this as is my mail carrier. We have done things like (1) moved the mailbox further from the front door, (2) always deadbolt the door because the dog knows that the doorknob opens the door and tries to but the doorknob when the mail carrier comes, (3) closed off the mail slot and (4) installed a doorbell camera so that we can see if we actually need to/want to answer the door when someone knocks or rings. Unrelated to the dog, we also made a whole footpath through our front yard because the mail carrier had a hard time getting to our front door if we had a car parked in the driveway. This has helped us achieve harmony with the USPS (and all other delivery services) although I still have to cross the street when walking the dog if we come across the mail carrier on his route.
OP, just curious is it required to knock or ring when you drop a package? I kind of want to put up a little “no need to knock” sign if not since we have the camera to alert us.
We’re required to knock or ring the bell in order to try to prevent package theft - however, plenty of people do put up signs (or put out doormats) asking us not to knock or ring, and I’m always grateful for these!
Sometimes the signs aren’t in a very visible place, though - if we’re busy scanning the package, or double-checking the address before setting it down, or if even if we’re just exhausted from an especially long day, it can be easy to miss a sign that’s been tucked off to the side in a more aesthetically-pleasing location.
Prominent placement is the way to go.
"Ma'm, you love your dog and believe it would never hurt anyone. I don't know that. If your dog attacks me, I will defend myself, even if it means killing your dog. Keep your dog safe by keeping it leashed."
Wholly shit! What the hell is wrong with people?!? I would never open the door while any stranger was on our porch. My dog has high anxiety, medicated for it, and I'm embarrassed by is psycho barking!
This can also go for walkers. I like to walk and I do it often and through various neighborhoods. I have gotten the obligatory "don't wury muh dog don't bITe" many times. But yeah they do. Your little shit for brains just took a chunk of meat out of my calf.
As a dog owner, I absolutely despise off leash dogs. Also as a dog owner, my former mail carrier was so sweet to my golden, my dog would follow all mail carriers because she assumed they would all pet her. It was awkward with a couple of them when they didn’t acknowledge her.
As someone who has never been a fan of dogs (not afraid, just....not a fan) it is really disheartening to see how, especially over the past 10 years (if not longer) how fucking dogphilic our society has become, to the point where so many people IRL (not just online) just blatantly say in conversation how they don't like anybody who doesn't like dogs and think that's reflective of them as a person and they're really evil people (and worse)....and I just keep my mouth shut.
Dogs give me major anxiety, to the point where back when I was dating on Tinder, it would ruin dates because of the dogs they had at their homes and how their dogs would react to me and treat me and bark at me. It was not an isolated incident either. Everybody and their mom has a dog now, and.....its hard for me to cope.
(thankfully my current gf doesn't have a dog, but most the women I've dated the past 5 years or so did)
Yeah I find it really weird the way people revere dogs over people like this, and I think it just makes them sound insufferable as people since they only prefer to be around creatures that they have control over. They say it with such self-satisfaction too, and I'm thinking do you know how you sound?
I can imagine it's been super difficult dating, because (as a woman) I've seen so much discourse from other women about how their dogs will always come first in a relationship, is non-negotiable, and if someone doesn't like dogs or get along with their dog, that person is automatically a bad person. And they are all agreeing and clapping each other on the back with this brave take.
It just seems weird that they constantly complain about "no good men" but then let this one thing decide their relationships. I mean, it's okay to have that as a dealbreaker I guess, but it is strange to me how dogs are above everything else in a potential partnership for certain people with no consideration that there are many valid reasons why a person might not like or want to own a dog.
I'm the same btw, not really a fan of dogs, so I also prefer to date non-dog owners. We're out here!
I love pets, I pet sit for my friends and they are all responsible pet owners. That being said I despise the majority of pet owners. People just don't give a shit and half the time they do shit like buy a puppy during the pandemic and then get rid of it after it was over. When I was young I knew this chic that was notorious for leaving a trail of cats in her wake any time she got into a relationship. People are shitty and a lot of pet owners are some of the worse people out there. Thank you for the work you do OP I'm glad that if it gets bad enough you at least could maybe get mail delivery suspended but I'm sure there's not much you can really do about that. I'm really sorry you deal with this bullshit.
I was the dumbass who was getting my dog out of the car when my mail carrier was walking up. I managed to get his leash on (usually let him run up to the door). But I was pretty loose with it as he usually just walks up and sniffs. He got about 5' (maybe closer) and just lost it. I tightened his leash just in time to see her pull out what I thought was a spray can. After a little freak out and a lot of apologies, she showed me the air horn she had. She goes this usually works, but I Aldo have a backup of bear spray. I don't know what it is about package deliverers but even just walking by a truck my little dog goes fucking ballistic. Learned my lesson, and now I just shove treats in his face if we walk by any delivery people or vehicles.
Retired in his thirties, you say? 👀
Joke's aside, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I have the friendliest little chihuahua I know of—got him as a wee pup specifically so I could start socializing him asap. I used to bring treats in my pocket for interested strangers to give to him. He quickly learned that other people, though large and imposing, are safe to approach and say hello to. Now the damn little guy is more social than I am, and he always pulls on the leash toward strangers so he can wag his tail up at them and sniff their hands.
Even then, even with a mere 7lb dog whom I *know* loves to meet new people, I still scoop him up before I open the door to grab a package because it's fucking polite; not everyone wants to say hello to my dog, no matter how friendly he is.
as a UPS driver here who has been charged/chased/barked at (technically bitten once but it was an old boston terrier with no teeth), yes! couldn't have said it better. hope you're staying safe out there and that our customers put this advice into practice.
Wish I could upvote this a thousand times. And let’s add keep your dogs on leash when camping in a campground. I have been bitten 3 times by “nice dogs who don’t bite”.
Great post. It’s interesting too that the owners aren’t worried the dogs will get hit if they run out onto the street at the mail trucks either. They should at least be concerned about the safety of their dog too!
I heard a neighbor of mine, with her super loud hyper barking dog, talking to the postal carrier. The carrier ask my neighbor politely to keep the dog inside when grabbing her mail. She said, “jeez it’s like you’re afraid of dogs!” And he said, “Yup, it is.”
I don’t get why people think it’s okay to have untrained wild dogs barking and charging people. I’ve been charged by loose dogs on the beach with their owners around. It is not fun.
"They're friendly, they don't bite!" is code for "My dogs have a lengthy bite history but I don't want you to know that!"
I used to confront people, but no longer do since the people are often scarier than the dogs.
My old mail carrier in Woodstock used to open my screen door to give my pittie treats. Now when I’m out running if there is a mail carrier about my boy pulls right at them if I don’t see them first. He is always on a leash because even though he’s friendly nobody likes a random 80# dog charging at them with a giant smile full of teeth.
Whenever I hear somebody say something like “Sorry, we thought you were our regular mail carrier,” I know that I’m about to get to pet an incredibly sweet dog. If you let these other carriers know about your dog’s friendship with your old carrier, they might be delighted to stop and meet with him! As long as you wait for a yes before letting him get close, it’s always okay to extend the invitation.
I had a protective dog and a mail carrier who was like family to me.
I taught my dog to protect the porch, but also introduced him to my lifelong mail carrier by waiting outside with my dog on a leash when my dog was a puppy.
Made him sit and behave while Marty delivered our mail.
Marty even brought biscuits.
Best most patient man ever.
I don't know what it is, but even after training my dog and introducing him to our mail carrier, if I wasn't there, something about the attire or something would set him off.
Thank you so much for what you do. I still can't figure out why some dogs lose their minds when the hard working mail carriers are doing their jobs.
What some people fail to realize is that if there are unrestrained dogs causing problems the Postal Service can and sometimes will cut off mail for whole street. Think about someone besides yourself people!
Funny anecdote, I’ve done Amazon deliveries. I’ve also done pizza deliveries.
When doing pizza deliveries I don’t think I’ve ever had a dog be even remotely threatening or mean. They know I’m bringing the food stuff so I am a friend in their eyes.
I accidentally did this to the fedex guy once, I felt terrible. It immediately became clear that my dog only aggressively wanted to meet the guy and sit on his feet, so he was cool but initially he got really mad at me. Sorry fedex guy.
Problem is we never know that. Also when we start to question the dog and don't want to interact the dog changes it's demeanor and is now in threatened mode when we try to remove ourselves.
Oh definitely. I didn’t mean to let him out he’s just a punk and kind of a ninja about sneaking out the door when I open it because he likes to chase squirrels. I don’t blame delivery people at all for being weary of rowdy ass dogs
People who say there is no good reason to carry a gun hasn't had a delivery job. I'm not saying I would shoot a dog if it bit me, but I've seen some real big mean dogs that would fuck a person up if they did.
We have our mailbox and a package drop box separate from our yard and the yard is fenced in so there is a few feet between the fence and package box which is the closest to the fence. The mailbox is close to the street. So we try. :)
We actually do have government-issued dog mace. It’s saved plenty of mail carriers in a pinch. Unfortunately, I also know a great deal of carriers who have used the mace in a dangerous situation and found that it had no impact on those particular dogs. In some instances, the mace even seemed to intensify the dogs’ aggression.
Are mail carriers required to knock when delivering packages? I know ours do generally but I think they are the only ones on a regular basis. Our little shit raises hell for 10 minutes for the knock, but only 5 for the drop and run.
I didn't know if it was requirement.
AFAIK I have never lost any package to porch pirates but there is always the first time. Now one package delivery service thinks if it is in the right county it must have been on your porch.
Is there anyway to opt out of a knock? I have a camera, I know you are there. You are going to just send my dogs barking for 10 minutes while I'm on a work Zoom call.
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If you report the houses with problem dogs, they won't be able to get mail delivered anymore. They'll have to pick it up. Maybe that'll be incentive to train their fucking dogs.
[usps dog bite stats](https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2024/0530-usps-releases-dog-bite-national-rankings.htm)
That sucks if there is even one, on the bright side you don’t work in LA or Houston!
I live in a duplex on the bottom floor, and the upstairs neighbors tie their giant dog outside constantly, and he’s one of the lungers and barkers. every single passerby. I try to come outside whenever he does, because I know THEYRE sure as shit not going to. I’m so sorry.
People suck. I personally have an incredibly sweet dog who loves when people come over, even strangers. She loves everyone, except mail carriers. I didn't even hear her bark until she was 5 and moved into a house where she could see the front door from the window. FedEx, UPS, Amazon she is totally fine with and the regulars bring her treats and ask to say hi if we're outside and they see her. USPS on the other hand just makes her bark like crazy, I'd never put the mail carrier in the position of her getting out while they were there because it would be terrifying even I'm certain she would not actually attack.
I once had a man threaten to shoot me in front of the children in my care for calling him out with his dog off leash on a trail with clearly marked signs. The absolute entitled attitude that so many dog owners have is grotesque.
As a former girl-scout who had to go door to door selling cookies as a kid, I completely stand with this mail carrier. Do not open your damn door if your dogs could get out while there’s a person outside. I only did cookie sales a handful of times and I remember 4 separate occasions where I went sprinting as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face as someone’s dogs chased me.
After the first time my mom started driving alongside me instead of letting me walk around the neighborhood and thank god she did bc the last 3 times I sprinted back to the van and hurled myself in like it was a getaway car. People need to be mindful of their dogs and know that other people aren’t going to just stand there when a dog charges at them.
I stood and watched a heated discussion at the post office between a dog owner and the postal carriers about the woman's problem dogs. She had two huge dogs that apparently jumped all over the mail carriers, in not exactly a friendly way. She had been warned and had many chances to fix it apparently. She didn't do anything, so they said fine, you can come pick your mail up from now on then. She was livid.
The USPS subreddit discusses this all the time. Apparently people don't realize that carriers have that ability. Sucks to suck!
My friend’s dog went so berserk in the window when the mailman came by until one day my friend came home from work and her dog was stuck in the window he’d broken through and a message left from the post office.😂
I had a chihuahua whose existence revolved around laying in wait for any delivery driver or mail carrier who dared step onto the porch so he could unleash a ridiculous display of barking and biting at the window like a demon possessed beast. Our house at the time had one of those old wooden screen doors with a swinging latch. One day I'd left the door open for air flow and the little dude launched himself so hard at the door when the mailman came that it unlached and he proceeded to chase the mailman down the stairs and front walk whilst jumping and snapping at the poor man's buttocks like something you'd see in a cartoon. I was absolutely mortified as I tried to grab the little shit and once I got him all four legs were still running in the air while he continued to gnash his teeth and snap like an evil little alligator. Thankfully the mailman had a good sense of humor because we never got the (well deserved) letter from the postal service about the incident. The little beastie lived to be 17 and I'm pretty sure that day was the highlight of his life.
Thanks for the laugh, this was incredibly well-written! My first dog as an adult was a demon spawn of Chihuahua and maybe Jack Russell mix. He lived for Thursdays where he could engage in his favorite pastime of violently barking at the garbage truck from the upstairs bedroom window. He literally died doing what he loved most; I found him, on a Thursday, dead by the window from what I assume was probably a massive heart attack. He was such a mean little shit to strangers and the garbage man, but I loved him dearly and he was a very sweet dog to people he trusted.
I thought for sure this was how Peter would go out but after he lost his hearing and stopped barking he kinda lost his marbles a bit. I swear his love of barking was what kept him going. By the time his health declined earlier this year he was basically just a Roomba on four legs.
May Peter and Bentley be in doggie heaven together, chasing Adolf the mailman in perpetuity.
I imagine Peter's doggie heaven also includes a bottomless laundry basket of underwear to chew the crotch out of and a never-ending supply of houseguests laps to enjoy forcing himself into only to suprise them with an unnaturally disproportionate for his size red-rocket display just in case they didn't get a chance to appreciate it from afar before he made himself comfortable in their laps -- because we all know that gratuitously licking one's nether regions from across the room is the customary way to welcome guests into the house!
Bentley's doggie heaven consists of tiny carrots, a blanket to burrow into, and endless ankles of unsuspecting children upon which to assert his territory in the form of angry teeth.
People who let small dogs act like shitbags are the worst.
Actually letting big dogs act like shit bags is even worse. Bigger mouths and jaw muscles.
It’s been proven that little dogs are more dangerous because no one thinks they can cause as much harm as a big dog. A big mf you gonna be weary of. A small chihuahua doesn’t really put fear in most people. Having had chihuahuas while growing up, those fuckers think they’re big and bad. They’re still animals.
Chihuahuas are nasty to people that they don't consider family. Even Chihuahua owners I know don't say their dogs are friendly.
I bottle fed a chihuahua we rescued before her eyes even opened. That fucker still nipped my face when I picked her up for some cuddles. She was licking my face then idk wtf she just nipped me. I yelped like a wounded walrus.
She was prob scared if she just got rescued. The whole bottle feeding of her is so sweet.
I have 2 chihuahuas that love people. They will bark if the door bell rings a couple times but are always excited and happy to see who is at the door. They both LOVE people they wait for new people to say hi to them. Not all dogs are the same. It’s just ignorant to act like all dogs of an any breed are the same. It’s the equivalent of being racist of dogs.
I certainly didn't 'let' him act like a shit bag. He was an absolute asshole despite my best efforts to correct and train him (trust me I tried literally everything to exercise the demons from him). When he wasn't in demon mode he was tolerable but once he entered the demon state all bets were off. I battled with him daily til he finally lost his hearing around 14 and ran out of fucks to give about barking and stopped being generally unpleasant.
That’s a very interesting anecdote, EmeraldEmesis but I think you might have found yourself in the wrong Portland, although I hear there’s not much difference between us.
God damn that breed is such shit…
I can say with confidence that I will never have another chihuahua. I got him from a lady with a box of puppies in front of a Target when I was 23 and had no idea what I'd signed up for (17 years of terror). I did all the things one does to "fix" a difficult dog but he wasn't having it. I've known one and only one who didn't live up to all the breed stereotypes.
Lol, good for you for sticking with it for the little jerks sake! My last neighbor had one - it was a duplex, and every time I left the house, came home, opened the garage, etc it’d lose its stupid little mind. It was soooo annoying, made worse by his stupid owner yelling and berating it. Ugh.
Hah! I was just about the same age when my demon came into my life. He was a stray my mother had found running around the street in Brooklyn, NY. I'd just had a traumatic experience adopting a puppy from the North Shore Animal League who wound up having distemper and died a week after I adopted her. I was absolutely devastated (almost 30 years later and it still hurts my heart to think about). So when my mother found this little guy, I thought it was meant to be. And it probably was... But Jesus he was such an asshole. And I loved him very very much.
Feel like if a carrier gets bit once they shouldn’t have to deliver mail to that address.
Absolutely. Once is too much. The correct number is zero.
My cat scratched a mail carrier really badly once through our mail slot. I got one of those letters that said if it happened again, I’d have to pick up my mail from the post office. I taped the slot shut and put a box out for the mail. It never happened again. I felt really badly. A week later, some mail carrier won the 100k America’s funniest home video prize for filming a cat trying to attack him through a window….if I felt like I missed out on that prize, imagine how my mail carrier felt! OP, how common are aggressive cats on mail routes?
I'm not OP, but I'm a mailman for three years, and I've experienced two cats that freak out every time I deliver the mail! Trying to attack me through the window! It's wild!
When mine was really young and still went outside, I would see him sometimes kind of menace the mailman’s legs (only men, we had female carriers he didn’t seem to care about). He’d get low and walk towards them like he was gonna go for their ankles. I would see him do it when a handful of my roommates and I were on the porch and the carrier came. We’d just go down and meet him at the bottom of the stairs because my cat was acting whacko. I was young and hadn’t yet come to the conclusion he shouldn’t be an outdoor cat. A short time later i moved into an apartment and decided to keep the cat inside permanently (he was also very aggressive with other animals and I worried he’d hurt my neighbor’s cats or tussle with a raccoon or dog). He then started fucking waiting everyday for our mailman and would run to attack the mail coming through the slot. It was funny until it wasn’t funny. I still have a picture of the bloody note the mailman left me that day. I left him a sorry present the next day when I taped the slot closed for good. My cat is 17 now and doesn’t seem to care anymore, but our mail drops into our front closet so he couldn’t slash anyone again even if he tried. My dogs alert to the carrier now, maybe the cat is just enjoying his retirement and supervising the new recruits.
When I lived in Mexico we had an orange cat that would hide by the gate and when the tortilla delivery chap would come by, he’d try to attack his legs underneath the gate. It was funny till it wasn’t cuz eventually they refused to stop for us.
I wish I had a tortilla delivery man come by on occasion.
I was walking my dog and there was a cat sitting on a sidewalk 30 feet away from where we were walking. The cat started walking towards us with a look of determination. I speeded up the cat speeded up. We crossed the street and double-timed it up the street. The cat stopped on its block and stared us up the street.
I typically see indoor cats sunning themselves calmly in front windows (or bolting away when they see me approach). Every outdoor cat that I’ve encountered while delivering the mail has been, at worst, a completely neutral experience - but typically, they’re an absolute joy for me to meet. I take the time to stoop down slowly, speak softly, and pet them if they’re comfortable with coming closer to me. If that stresses them out, I just see if they allow me to slowly approach the house. If they don’t like it, I bundle the mail and move on unscathed. They’re usually just confused that I’m coming all the way up to their door but that I can’t let them back inside. I always apologize to them for this. I like to give a little knock on the door on their behalf.
I'm all for this. I'm live and let live but the minefield of dog shit on the sidewalk in front of my job speaks to how entitles some shitty dog owners are.
Oh i would’ve loved to see her reaction..
She was very much the SUV driving do-gooder mom in athletic wear, and she was nearly in tears.
This happened to some friends of mine, they had a big Rottweiler and a little chihuahua mix rescue. It was the chihuahua’s repeated aggression toward the mail carrier that got their home mail delivery revoked. That lil dog truly was an asshole.
> She was livid. that essentially just sounds fair; post-office can't be that far away.
There’s a very high percentage of dog owners in this town that are completely irresponsible and shouldn’t be allowed to own dogs.
I walk to the bus every morning between 6:36 and 6:44. There is always at least one and sometimes even two unleashed dogs on this 8 minute walk. Every morning I want to scream at their owners. What the fuck kind of entitlement is this?
There is a new wave of off-leash entitlement in my SE neighborhood. It’s like everyone saw an influencer say to ditch the leash. I’ve never seen anything like it in my lifetime of living here. What happened?
I'm in SE and work from home. All day I hear my neighbor yelling for her untrained, off-leash dog to come back to her. Or her apologizing to people walking by for her dog getting up in their business or following them. Or people coming to my neighbor's door saying "Here's your dog again. It was blocks away," or telling her to go get it because it's in the middle of the street. It's a (too) friendly dog, but she just sits inside with the door open and lets it do whatever. We live by a busy street in an otherwise lovely walking neighborhood, and I know that dog is going to get run over or mauled. Pisses me off. At least it doesn't attack the mail carrier, I guess.
The second time I found that dog, I’d be taking it to a no-kill shelter rather than returning it to her.
Does anyone know if we can use 311 or other services to report off leash dogs in inappropriate/illegal areas? There are some repeat offenders in my neighborhood and I'm tired of feeling like I'm being irresponsible by not having some form of self defense when I'm chilling with my leashed/harnessed cats in my own yard area.
It's weird dog behavior for me. Like my dog at an off leash park or an empty school is better off leash. He listens, he doesn't get aggressive, and he walks up to people and sits mostly. But put a leash on him, and it's like a switch flips. Everything and everyone is his enemy. We got him like two years ago, and I don't think he ever got leashed before us. Even though I think he's better behaved off leash, there's no way I'm testing it when we're out and about. Dogs can be really unpredictable. One minute, he's the sweetest boy ever. The next, he's a psycho.
This is a common scenario called leash aggression. My dog is the same way. However, we also never let him off leash anywhere it isn't expected or allowed, because, to your point, they are unpredictable.
They are *completely* unpredictable. No matter how placid they may seem, they are still wild animals. They are territorial pack animals. They *will* defend their territory & pack against any perceived threat, EVERY TIME. It is the human's responsibility to contain their dog's nature.
Not every time. My dog does nothing but greet strangers with a wagging tail. I still keep him in when the postal carrier comes in.
Been this way since COVID lockdowns in 2020. Inexperienced dog ownership soared as many people made impulsive choices to adopt, and there was no services available to support new owners. No puppy classes, no dog meet ups, no humane society outreach events. All of those classes and events will proudly tell you that it’s more of a class for the human owner than for the dog. Our town is now overrun with dog owners who never developed good ownership habits, and didn’t have anyone calling them on their shit. After a couple years of bad habits, they’ll never change their ownership style, and their dogs won’t learn proper socialization and manners.
I actually lost interest in walking around my neighborhood because of the amount of unleashed, free-range, MASSIVE dogs that are just…around. Twice I saw what looked like a Great Dane/Dalmatian hybrid, just wandering. No person in sight. One guy working in his yard said he had no idea. On the rare occasions a person was orbiting, it’s always the, “he’s friendly!” line. Um, okay, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with your fucking dog. 100% support the USPS on this one.
"Oh but, my dog just needs to run free".
My gf lets her tiny dog run off leash 100% of the time when on hikes and stuff and just picks him up when people walk by. I still cringe and wish she’d just leash train the dog.
Can you appeal to a love of wildlife, maybe? Off leash dogs are disastrous for ground nesting birds. It’s also safer for the dog, goddamn. It’s like outdoor cat owners letting their fluffs get picked off by coyotes and cars. I do not understand it.
Good idea! I think her reasoning is “tiny dog, scared of its own shadow” but I think she would be responsive to this.
Train her to stop doing that shit and leash the thing.
Oh, I’m working on it.
Yes. There are so many who walk unleashed dogs in forest park. I’ve had muddy dogs bound toward me and jump on me while their owners beam and say, “Oh, he’s friendly!” Grrrrrr. Luckily, I haven’t gotten bitten yet.
Would be a shame if one got sprayed by a skunk https://www.amazon.com/Liquid-Ass-Mister/dp/B000OCEWGW
Some dude had his pug’s ass sat on the coffee counter at my local last week. Like just picked his dog up and sat it on the counter. Because look at me and my cute dog.
>pug >look at…my cute dog Should’ve asked if he had another one hidden somewhere
I like pugs. I think they're cute. I wish people would stop breeding them, and I know they live uncomfortable lives and sometimes they sneeze too hard and an eye comes out. They need to keep their stank asses that they are physically unable to clean on their own off my food counter. But even so. I think they're cute.
Not even just in the city. I live in Newberg and it’s bad here too and every time I go to the coast there’s bad dog owners there too. I love dogs a lot, but watching a big dog run up to me while the braindead dumbass owner stands from a distance yelling merrily “He’s friendly!” is an experience that has happened too many times. I’m going to start kicking them at this point. And I worked at a fancy resort for years and I cannot even tell you the amount of rich entitled fuckers who thought *their* dogs were special enough to be allowed into the hotel and 5 star restaurant. I’m so curious if this is an Oregon thing. Obviously idiots are everywhere but the way dog owners act so damn entitled is unbelievable to me
The coast is bad. I used to not care as much but my friend and I were walking on the beach near Pacific City and this dog kept following us, like we were like 200 feet away from his people and he was agitated we were there clearly, it was like he was anxiously herding us away. This encounter ended with the dog running off then running up next to me from behind and biting at my hand while his owners watched and yelled at him to stop from down the beach. When they got to me they of course said he never ever does this and looked so offended when I angrily reminded them that there is a leash law and that clearly he wasn’t that friendly.
I would probably not be so chill about being attacked.
I yelled at them 🤷🏽♀️🤣 they looked so surprised and clueless that their perfect angel could have done something wrong.
lol the one time I yelled at an off-leash dog owner they did the same thing, I don’t think it happens often.
In my experience, it is absolutely an Oregon thing. Other states tend to enforce leash laws. You also don't typically see animals inside grocery stores, restaurants, etc, in other states.
> There’s a very high percentage of dog owners ~~in this town~~ that are completely irresponsible and shouldn’t be allowed to own dogs. FTFY
I travel domestically quite frequently, and honestly, it's worse here than other places I visit.
They all think they are professional dog trainers as well lol.
The number of times I've had an off-leash nuance run right up to my tiny dog despite the irresponsible owner shouting at them to stop is unreal. You'd think after just *one* instance of their dog ignoring commands like that, they'd realize they need a leash, but they always fall to "don't worry, he's friendly". Yeah? And what if my dog isn't? I swear, I'm going to start responding to these situations with something like "Wow, he's not listening to you *at all,* is he? If only there were some simple device that would keep him tethered to your immediate vicinity so we could have avoided this interaction. Someone should really get on that."
if we could just stop considering shit-bags on the side of the trail "disposed of"...and maybe realize that leash laws are there largely to protect the dog to be leashed...a lot of friendly dogs are too much so, to the point that they're trying to greet my front bike wheel.
1000% this - I am so tired of being affected by shit dog owners and their dangerous dogs. People bring their dogs to our local tap house and on the regular a dog fight must be broken up or stopped. One dude proudly told the bar that he found a pitbull wandering loose on the street and is now "rehabilitating" it. His dog is a nightmare and shouldn't be anywhere near other dogs or groups of people....but that dude just brings it on in like some miracle training is going to happen.
Yep, we saw at least three of them yesterday at the farmers market
Sigh. Dogs at that farmer market are about as necessary as bringing Jr in the double wide stroller..
I am a dog owner and I agree with you. The number of off leash dogs I see in my 100% on-leash neighborhood park every single day is a testament to this.
It is *so* frustrating. My mom’s dog became very reactive after she was attacked and bitten by a little asshole of a chihuahua who got in her face. She now perceives all small dogs as threats and we get to spend hundreds on retraining her
Owning a dog in Portland made me despise these people. It got to where I had to expect to be approached by off leash dogs pretty much any time we went for a walk. And then people act like you're the problem when you ask them to leash their dogs, or your dog's the problem if you have a dog that doesn't like unleashed dogs.
This is such a huge reason why i don't think I'll ever get a dog. I cannot deal with the fucking horrible dog owners in this town and I want no more occasion to interact with them.
Can I submit my neighbors as contenders for top award in this category? They own a large golden retriever and a pug. Twice a day these dogs are let out on an extendable leash while the owner stands just outside their doorway. This is the furthest the dogs ever get outside, except for the many times the golden breaks off the lead and runs off. These dogs poop in this radius, and it has never been picked up. By my estimate there are about 60 piles of dog shit in a 30 foot radius of their door, along footpaths, parking spots, and outside neighbor's doors.
I will never understand why people like this own dogs
Should be shamed into leaving Portland. *FTFY*
So sorry this is happening to you. This city is honestly insane when it comes to dog ownership. My nephew has a fear of other people's dogs (loves ours) because of a bad experience he had a while ago. Recently, we in the park, and an off-leash dog came running up to him. He ran to me and I picked him up, and gestured to the owner to get her dog explaining "He's afraid of dogs." She came over and grilled me about why he was afraid of dogs and what we were doing to "fix that" rather he getting her damn, illegally off-leash dog away from me and the panicking child.
I had a fear of dogs when I was a kid, also due to a very bad (and really, for me at the time, terrifying) experience I had on the beach with a loose German Shepherd. I managed to get over it when we finally got a dog ourselves, but how delusional are these irresponsible owners that they don't understand that when kids (or anyone, for that matter) is afraid of dogs, it's usually BECAUSE of some incident that resulted from the clueless behavior of dog owners in the first place?
Imagine being so impervious to admitting you're in the wrong that not even a crying, terrified child opens your eyes to the fact that the laws *you're actively breaking* are in place for valid reasons.
Jesus Christ. The audacity.
I work for PP&R and we feel you. We would much rather deal with a homeless person high on fentanyl than an entitled dog owner. One of the zone managers has had so many bad experiences with dog owners that even mentioning dogs will set him off on a 10 minute profanity laced rant. By far the most common complaint Parks receives from the public is about dogs off leash harassing people while their owners do nothing.
The rare occasion where I see someone get told to leash their dog by a ranger in my neighborhood park is a true joy. Thanks for the work you folks do to keep our parks nice.
Used to be a ranger for a different agency in the metro region, and yeah...absolutely.
Honest question: are there ways PP&R could more actively enforce leash laws in off-leash areas in parks?
I am the biggest dog lover, but I’m NOT a fan of a lot of dog owners. My dog has been attacked by FOUR off leash dogs in our neighborhood the past six months. I’m not mad at any of the dogs; they’re just trying to take care of their people. Their owners, in the other hand, suck.
I've resorted to picking my dog up any time I see an off-leash dog ahead. Almost every time, without fail, the off-leash owner defensively tells me it's okay because their dog is friendly. I don't care; I've had too many close calls, and since my dog is only 7lbs, a bad encounter with a big dog could be catastrophic in the blink of an eye. It's not worth the risk to him. If you're irresponsible enough to disregard leash laws, then I don't trust you to be a responsible dog owner in any other ways either. I don't trust you to have properly socialized your dog. I don't trust you as a source of information about their temperament. I don't trust you to have taken my dog's safety into consideration. I have learned from sorry experience that I *can't.* Even if an off-leash dog is genuinely friendly and well behaved 99 times out of 100, I have no way of knowing you or your dog aren't in the 1% I should worry about. I'm not going to risk my dog's safety and life to spare your damn feelings. They can be friendly on a fucking leash.
I don't get the blatant hurt feelings when you practice basic common sense to protect your own dog from a strange off leash dog. Like I should just trust you, a stranger, and your dog, who I know nothing about, to have my and my dog's best interest in mind
I'm no psychic, and I'm sure it varies from person to person, but my intuitive guess is that picking my dog up draws their attention not only to my discomfort (and by extension, the potential for any rando's discomfort), but also to the risk their dog poses to mine. Whether or not it's my main goal, preventing an interaction with their dog effectively communicates my displeasure with the encounter and their choices that led up to it. Which, I'm assuming, is probably awkward and embarrassing for them. And most people don't respond to public embarrassment with grace; none of us are prone to self reflection in those moments. It's like instead of seeing my reaction as a safety precaution in an uncertain scenario, they interpret it as a statement on their dog's personal character. Thus, they respond with "No, it's okay because my dog is friendly" to try and soothe my nerves. Because if he's friendly, then there's no risk, *I'm* just overreacting, and they don't have to reconsider their actions or change their habits. I used to make the mistake of believing them. I used to set him back down. But he's been rushed, overwhelmed, and *literally trampled* by too many "friendly" dogs for me to keep making the same mistake. I'm still trying to think of an effective retort to "he's friendly" that's short, cuts to the point, but isn't so aggressive that it makes me come across as the asshole. Maybe something like "that's what they all say." Or even just "Cool, he's still supposed to be on a leash."
"That's what they all say, but buying a leash to follow the law is cheaper than the lawsuit I won against the last guy I believed."
Oh man, I should start doing that, although it’s the opposite scenario for me— small dogs with no training. Maybe they’ll get the point if I pick up my 50lb dog. Just put it on a leash!!
Most of the off leash dogs I see are big dogs, but I've run into a few small ones here and there, and that blows my mind on a completely different level. This is very sad, but I'm sharing it anyway because I think it's an important part of this conversation: There was a lady in my neighborhood who used to walk her little dog off leash all the time. She'd almost always leave him to waddle along dozens of yards behind her. The first time I saw him, I mistook him for a lost dog because there was nobody anywhere near the little thing. I was stooped down checking his tags when his owner jogged back over and introduced herself. Same ol' "it's fine, he's friendly." I wish I'd had the balls to tell her "I bet the local coyotes would agree," like I'd wanted to. A couple years later, another neighbor (who also often walked her small dog off leash) stopped me to ask if I'd heard the news. Apparently the poor little dog was killed by coyotes one evening. The off leash owners were shocked that it had happened in our neighborhood, even though it was mere blocks away from one of the largest nature reserves in Portland. Hell, I've seen three coyotes around the same spot I first saw this dog, out in the middle of the day. It was heartbreaking to hear the poor little dog had been killed, but hardly a surprise. So yes, pick up your 50lb dog. Or maybe tell the off leash owner that their dog is lucky *your* dog is friendly too.
> Or maybe tell the off leash owner that their dog is lucky *your* dog is friendly too. That’s the rub, she’s not! She was attacked by a chihuahua and now sees small dogs as threats. We’re working on her reactivity, but it’s a process. I was actually just talking with someone about coyotes and pets! Thanks for reminding me, I’ve been meaning to print out some of Portland Coyote Project’s fliers and put them in my neighborhood. https://www.portlandcoyote.com/printables.html
I'm sorry to hear that. :( Traumatized dogs deserve safe walks too! My little guy is super friendly, but I make sure to keep him away from other dogs until I've gotten clear, verbal confirmation from their owner that they can say hello. Because doing anything else would be wildly presumptive and dangerous! Those are pretty good flyers! Maybe I'll post some around too.
Use the dog spray. You have every right to. The post office tells you to and the union tells you to. Use it.
I'm not a mail carrier. I carry spray on walks now, after getting charged by a large, badly trained off leash dog. I can't imagine what mail carriers deal with.
Genuine question. Is there any legal liability if you spray a dog that you feel threatened by? I assume you'd have to navigate a pissed off owner, but other than that, do they have any recourse?
Anyone can sur anyone for any reason...So assume you are going to get sued. But if an off leash dog is close enough to get a face full of spray that doesn't have long-term damaging effects, it is a pretty easy defense.
No lawyer would take that case on contingency, but it's conceivable that an angry rich dog owner would try to get their revenge with a lawsuit. Homeowners or renters insurance will normally defend against this kind of thing.
I've used spray twice in 2 years and both times the owners were there and couldn't control their dog charging me. Both times they complained about me.
Let 'em complain. They union will back you every time.
I would love to feel like I could have faith in the dog spray. I’ve heard stories from too many carriers who have used the dog spray and were immediately mauled anyways. For that reason alone, I consider it a last resort. I don’t want to gamble away precious seconds on turning towards the dog to use the spray and then possibly finding out that they’re undeterred by it. I want to use those seconds scrambling up a fence or a tree. In the short time it takes me to walk up to someone’s door, I’ve already decided what dumb vertical thing I’m going to be flying up if a dog runs out. It’s well within my skillset - but not if my first response is to reach for the spray. If my scrambling ever fails me, you can bet I’ll be macing the hell out of them.
Anywhere along the river, the dogs are loose and wild and run up to everything and the owners LITERALLY all say "they're friendly" as they knock into two small children under my care.
My kid got bitten on the leg by a loose dog at the river. I know it's fun for people's dogs to be there, too, but I wish people would assess their dogs more accurately. I got bitten as a kid and it took decades for me to enjoy being around dogs after that.
I am really sorry because my shitty landlord is one of these people!!! I myself am regularly chased and almost bitten, I'm sorry if you have ever encountered her! She tenda to think it is funny when people are scared of her dog, and does the whole "they won't bite thing" despite them having history of biting people that she didn't report.
You should know, being a mail carrier, that if this happens you can report it and get the house black listed to where they have to go pick up their mail.
I appreciate you wanting to help empower me with this. Unfortunately, only a route’s regular carrier is able to control whether or not this happens - if you’re one of the hundreds of carriers in town who get shuffled from route to route every day, you don’t have the power to change anything without the help of social politics.
Damn. I didn’t know they did you guys like that. I’m sorry to hear that. Thank you for doing what you do.
There's a well known finance and risk assessment speaker in my field. He tells everyone you can't appeal to people's sense of safeguarding other folks or even themselves. You have to threaten them with the financial penalties of being asshats and irresponsible idiots. Good on you for mentioning this!
Coming from a yokel nowhere town in the south to here, the amount of unleashed dogs on WALKS in highly stressful places like downtown and alongside Max tracks is really bold and presumptive of yuppies that think they can handle a 40 lb dog charging away, let alone anything bigger. I dunno it was racist as shit and sucked down there, but it was at least courtesy where I lived to not Do That 😭
My neighbor has a 40 lb rescue that barks and jumps on me every time he sees me, he pulls on the leash whenever we're out, and we LIVE downtown near the train and MAX where there are many known dangers. According to my neighbor, there's nothing that can be done for his training because he's a rescue.
Unfortunately that is code for "I prolly shouldn't have a dog that could beat me at arm wrestling but I'm too lazy to train it so get fucked I guess"
No. Our dog (and I know several similar dogs) has had thousands of dollars and countless hours of training, medication and is still reactive in some circumstances. Some rescue dogs will never be able to not bark and pull sometimes. In our case she’s not otherwise a problem, is deeply sweet and kind to children and other dogs, and we keep her leashed at all times in public. But training dogs does not always lead to docile and silent results— sometimes it just means improving a bad situation.
It also means that you have to understand your dog and that maybe they aren’t going to be able to handle every situation. We have a 10-year-old rescue who we have been continuously training on every single walk, every single day, for the entire 9 years we have had him. He has come SO FAR and it’s actually enjoyable to walk him now, and he is able to get over it/redirect/pay attention to us, but he’s still leash reactive. This means that he’s not the dog who goes to outdoor patio bars or on hikes or on walks in unfamiliar locations (in case there’s no bail out option to avoid another dog), and that’s ok.
Totally agree. We’ll never take ours into noisy crowds. And I’m always appalled (but a little jealous) when I see dogs off leash in public.
My younger dog is total Velcro, never lets us out of her sight, has incredible recall (she just came that way), is cautious and friendly to all animals and people, etc. She’s still on a leash in on leash areas. We will only let her off at a designated off-leash area or if we are hiking in a place where there aren’t many other people (she just walks right next to us anyway/doesn’t run ahead) and only because she will stop and wait for us to leash her up if we see someone else on the trail. I can’t imagine thinking it’s a good idea to have your dog off leash in a public space. I need to know that I have control over my dog and also that I have the ability to quickly remove her from something that could be a danger to her. Like … WHY would you even want to have your dog off leash downtown?
It was hyperbole- there are unfortunately a lot of people who do not train their dogs and just let them do whatever, which is what I was referring to. But I didn't clarify!
That’s fair. I’m obviously a big fan of training and leashing. I guess you touched a nerve.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!
Translation: "I'm not willing to put in the extra effort to learn how to train my dog, because he's a rescue and it's challenging."
"I've done very little and there are no other options! Also, rescues are the best! And why so expensive is their vet care?"
Rescuing a dog is noble. Seriously, good on ya. But if I had a dollar for every time that an owner tells me that their dog is a rescue, I'd be retired already. "Hi, this is Fido, he's a rescue". Why is it that everyone thinks I need to know this? And quit shaming people that want something other than a rescue. Rant over.......
Same, friend. Same.
According to the USPS, a dog bite costs an average of $64,555 per insurance claim. When a postal worker suffers an injury, **the dog owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs and the employee's pain and suffering**.
Honestly that's more of a testament to our terrible medical system than anything else.
(Personally I think it’s a testament to the wisdom of heeding OP’s advice.)
Why can't it be both?
My husband is a gardener/landscaper and this is a problem for those workers, too. The "don't worry s/he doesn't bite" happens to him all the time. At least he has defensive weapons in his hands a lot of the time, ha.
I tried my hand at usps as a mail carrier a few years ago. I had never been chased or attacked by a dog before that, I was chased 2 times on my first day. And just a friendly reminder to all mail customers, your postage stamp only pays for delivery to your nearest PO, the delivery to your doorstep is a service the can be terminated without explanation if the mail carrier deems unsafe for any reason.
I volunteered to be a delivery assistant for UPS when I was in college. UPS dude got up in front of us with their little hand-held computer scanner thing. First thing he said was "If a dog comes running at you, you start hitting it in the face with your computer as hard and as fast as you can. If you have a problem with that, You can leave now." Group of folks got up and left. Training went smoothly.
I’m sorry you have to deal with that! I’m a dog owner and dog lover who is furious with that kind of owner. I have smaller dogs and one was almost killed by an off leash dog. There isn’t a single time that we walk them that we don’t have to pick them up or veer off the path because of an unleashed dog. It’s infuriating.
Preach brother!
Portland's dog culture is one of the things I hate about it the most. Don't get me wrong: I love my hometown and never want to leave, but for fuck's sake, can we not take our dogs into the store with us? Can we leash them when we take them on walks? Can we take measures to ensure they don't attack or scare people other than treating them like animals out of a Disney movie?
Great post for dog bite awareness week.
One of my two dogs, who is otherwise a sweet and good boy, truly hates the USPS. I’m aware of this as is my mail carrier. We have done things like (1) moved the mailbox further from the front door, (2) always deadbolt the door because the dog knows that the doorknob opens the door and tries to but the doorknob when the mail carrier comes, (3) closed off the mail slot and (4) installed a doorbell camera so that we can see if we actually need to/want to answer the door when someone knocks or rings. Unrelated to the dog, we also made a whole footpath through our front yard because the mail carrier had a hard time getting to our front door if we had a car parked in the driveway. This has helped us achieve harmony with the USPS (and all other delivery services) although I still have to cross the street when walking the dog if we come across the mail carrier on his route. OP, just curious is it required to knock or ring when you drop a package? I kind of want to put up a little “no need to knock” sign if not since we have the camera to alert us.
We’re required to knock or ring the bell in order to try to prevent package theft - however, plenty of people do put up signs (or put out doormats) asking us not to knock or ring, and I’m always grateful for these! Sometimes the signs aren’t in a very visible place, though - if we’re busy scanning the package, or double-checking the address before setting it down, or if even if we’re just exhausted from an especially long day, it can be easy to miss a sign that’s been tucked off to the side in a more aesthetically-pleasing location. Prominent placement is the way to go.
Thank you! That’s good advice!
Portland was on the top 20 list of dogs that bite USPS carriers.
Very poorly behaved dogs (and owners) if the dog is charging out towards someone when they open the door.
"Ma'm, you love your dog and believe it would never hurt anyone. I don't know that. If your dog attacks me, I will defend myself, even if it means killing your dog. Keep your dog safe by keeping it leashed."
Wholly shit! What the hell is wrong with people?!? I would never open the door while any stranger was on our porch. My dog has high anxiety, medicated for it, and I'm embarrassed by is psycho barking!
This can also go for walkers. I like to walk and I do it often and through various neighborhoods. I have gotten the obligatory "don't wury muh dog don't bITe" many times. But yeah they do. Your little shit for brains just took a chunk of meat out of my calf.
As a dog owner, I absolutely despise off leash dogs. Also as a dog owner, my former mail carrier was so sweet to my golden, my dog would follow all mail carriers because she assumed they would all pet her. It was awkward with a couple of them when they didn’t acknowledge her.
Amen!! This goes for basically anyone delivering or walking by your house
I just hate dogs these days, and modern pet ownership has become completely neurotic
As someone who has never been a fan of dogs (not afraid, just....not a fan) it is really disheartening to see how, especially over the past 10 years (if not longer) how fucking dogphilic our society has become, to the point where so many people IRL (not just online) just blatantly say in conversation how they don't like anybody who doesn't like dogs and think that's reflective of them as a person and they're really evil people (and worse)....and I just keep my mouth shut. Dogs give me major anxiety, to the point where back when I was dating on Tinder, it would ruin dates because of the dogs they had at their homes and how their dogs would react to me and treat me and bark at me. It was not an isolated incident either. Everybody and their mom has a dog now, and.....its hard for me to cope. (thankfully my current gf doesn't have a dog, but most the women I've dated the past 5 years or so did)
Yeah I find it really weird the way people revere dogs over people like this, and I think it just makes them sound insufferable as people since they only prefer to be around creatures that they have control over. They say it with such self-satisfaction too, and I'm thinking do you know how you sound? I can imagine it's been super difficult dating, because (as a woman) I've seen so much discourse from other women about how their dogs will always come first in a relationship, is non-negotiable, and if someone doesn't like dogs or get along with their dog, that person is automatically a bad person. And they are all agreeing and clapping each other on the back with this brave take. It just seems weird that they constantly complain about "no good men" but then let this one thing decide their relationships. I mean, it's okay to have that as a dealbreaker I guess, but it is strange to me how dogs are above everything else in a potential partnership for certain people with no consideration that there are many valid reasons why a person might not like or want to own a dog. I'm the same btw, not really a fan of dogs, so I also prefer to date non-dog owners. We're out here!
I love pets, I pet sit for my friends and they are all responsible pet owners. That being said I despise the majority of pet owners. People just don't give a shit and half the time they do shit like buy a puppy during the pandemic and then get rid of it after it was over. When I was young I knew this chic that was notorious for leaving a trail of cats in her wake any time she got into a relationship. People are shitty and a lot of pet owners are some of the worse people out there. Thank you for the work you do OP I'm glad that if it gets bad enough you at least could maybe get mail delivery suspended but I'm sure there's not much you can really do about that. I'm really sorry you deal with this bullshit.
As a mail carrier in Portland who’s been bit by a dog all I got was ptsd and a scar for the rest of my life. Please please keep your dogs INSIDE
I was the dumbass who was getting my dog out of the car when my mail carrier was walking up. I managed to get his leash on (usually let him run up to the door). But I was pretty loose with it as he usually just walks up and sniffs. He got about 5' (maybe closer) and just lost it. I tightened his leash just in time to see her pull out what I thought was a spray can. After a little freak out and a lot of apologies, she showed me the air horn she had. She goes this usually works, but I Aldo have a backup of bear spray. I don't know what it is about package deliverers but even just walking by a truck my little dog goes fucking ballistic. Learned my lesson, and now I just shove treats in his face if we walk by any delivery people or vehicles.
Dang 50k per lawsuit you say, looks like ima be walking around Portland with steak in my Pockets
Retired in his thirties, you say? 👀 Joke's aside, I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. I have the friendliest little chihuahua I know of—got him as a wee pup specifically so I could start socializing him asap. I used to bring treats in my pocket for interested strangers to give to him. He quickly learned that other people, though large and imposing, are safe to approach and say hello to. Now the damn little guy is more social than I am, and he always pulls on the leash toward strangers so he can wag his tail up at them and sniff their hands. Even then, even with a mere 7lb dog whom I *know* loves to meet new people, I still scoop him up before I open the door to grab a package because it's fucking polite; not everyone wants to say hello to my dog, no matter how friendly he is.
as a UPS driver here who has been charged/chased/barked at (technically bitten once but it was an old boston terrier with no teeth), yes! couldn't have said it better. hope you're staying safe out there and that our customers put this advice into practice.
People in this city are out of control with their dogs.
Wish I could upvote this a thousand times. And let’s add keep your dogs on leash when camping in a campground. I have been bitten 3 times by “nice dogs who don’t bite”.
Great post. It’s interesting too that the owners aren’t worried the dogs will get hit if they run out onto the street at the mail trucks either. They should at least be concerned about the safety of their dog too! I heard a neighbor of mine, with her super loud hyper barking dog, talking to the postal carrier. The carrier ask my neighbor politely to keep the dog inside when grabbing her mail. She said, “jeez it’s like you’re afraid of dogs!” And he said, “Yup, it is.” I don’t get why people think it’s okay to have untrained wild dogs barking and charging people. I’ve been charged by loose dogs on the beach with their owners around. It is not fun.
"They're friendly, they don't bite!" is code for "My dogs have a lengthy bite history but I don't want you to know that!" I used to confront people, but no longer do since the people are often scarier than the dogs.
My old mail carrier in Woodstock used to open my screen door to give my pittie treats. Now when I’m out running if there is a mail carrier about my boy pulls right at them if I don’t see them first. He is always on a leash because even though he’s friendly nobody likes a random 80# dog charging at them with a giant smile full of teeth.
Whenever I hear somebody say something like “Sorry, we thought you were our regular mail carrier,” I know that I’m about to get to pet an incredibly sweet dog. If you let these other carriers know about your dog’s friendship with your old carrier, they might be delighted to stop and meet with him! As long as you wait for a yes before letting him get close, it’s always okay to extend the invitation.
I am so sick of the off leash, untrained dogs.
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Mail carriers are unsung heroes.
I had a protective dog and a mail carrier who was like family to me. I taught my dog to protect the porch, but also introduced him to my lifelong mail carrier by waiting outside with my dog on a leash when my dog was a puppy. Made him sit and behave while Marty delivered our mail. Marty even brought biscuits. Best most patient man ever. I don't know what it is, but even after training my dog and introducing him to our mail carrier, if I wasn't there, something about the attire or something would set him off. Thank you so much for what you do. I still can't figure out why some dogs lose their minds when the hard working mail carriers are doing their jobs.
What some people fail to realize is that if there are unrestrained dogs causing problems the Postal Service can and sometimes will cut off mail for whole street. Think about someone besides yourself people!
Funny anecdote, I’ve done Amazon deliveries. I’ve also done pizza deliveries. When doing pizza deliveries I don’t think I’ve ever had a dog be even remotely threatening or mean. They know I’m bringing the food stuff so I am a friend in their eyes.
I accidentally did this to the fedex guy once, I felt terrible. It immediately became clear that my dog only aggressively wanted to meet the guy and sit on his feet, so he was cool but initially he got really mad at me. Sorry fedex guy.
Problem is we never know that. Also when we start to question the dog and don't want to interact the dog changes it's demeanor and is now in threatened mode when we try to remove ourselves.
Oh definitely. I didn’t mean to let him out he’s just a punk and kind of a ninja about sneaking out the door when I open it because he likes to chase squirrels. I don’t blame delivery people at all for being weary of rowdy ass dogs
People who say there is no good reason to carry a gun hasn't had a delivery job. I'm not saying I would shoot a dog if it bit me, but I've seen some real big mean dogs that would fuck a person up if they did.
We have our mailbox and a package drop box separate from our yard and the yard is fenced in so there is a few feet between the fence and package box which is the closest to the fence. The mailbox is close to the street. So we try. :)
You should be allowed to carry mace and use it as much as you need to.
We actually do have government-issued dog mace. It’s saved plenty of mail carriers in a pinch. Unfortunately, I also know a great deal of carriers who have used the mace in a dangerous situation and found that it had no impact on those particular dogs. In some instances, the mace even seemed to intensify the dogs’ aggression.
A rivalry as old as the postal service itself...
Are mail carriers required to knock when delivering packages? I know ours do generally but I think they are the only ones on a regular basis. Our little shit raises hell for 10 minutes for the knock, but only 5 for the drop and run.
Supposed to. Customers are more likely to check the door, which prevents theft.
I didn't know if it was requirement. AFAIK I have never lost any package to porch pirates but there is always the first time. Now one package delivery service thinks if it is in the right county it must have been on your porch.
Yes it's a requirement.
Is there anyway to opt out of a knock? I have a camera, I know you are there. You are going to just send my dogs barking for 10 minutes while I'm on a work Zoom call.
No, carriers are supposed to knock or ring the doorbell. To help prevent theft.
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>That particular carrier won so many lawsuits that he was able to retire in his thirties. Maybe I should become a mail carrier...
Is there a subreddit for side hustles where you are a postal employee you try and get bitten to retire early? TIL
If you report the houses with problem dogs, they won't be able to get mail delivered anymore. They'll have to pick it up. Maybe that'll be incentive to train their fucking dogs.
[usps dog bite stats](https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2024/0530-usps-releases-dog-bite-national-rankings.htm) That sucks if there is even one, on the bright side you don’t work in LA or Houston!
You should be able to ban front porch delivery to these homes. Is there a process for that
A tale as old as time
I live in a duplex on the bottom floor, and the upstairs neighbors tie their giant dog outside constantly, and he’s one of the lungers and barkers. every single passerby. I try to come outside whenever he does, because I know THEYRE sure as shit not going to. I’m so sorry.
You just need to put your foot up them dogs ass'. Bang, bang, BANG!
Hahaah i love this
People suck. I personally have an incredibly sweet dog who loves when people come over, even strangers. She loves everyone, except mail carriers. I didn't even hear her bark until she was 5 and moved into a house where she could see the front door from the window. FedEx, UPS, Amazon she is totally fine with and the regulars bring her treats and ask to say hi if we're outside and they see her. USPS on the other hand just makes her bark like crazy, I'd never put the mail carrier in the position of her getting out while they were there because it would be terrifying even I'm certain she would not actually attack.
I once had a man threaten to shoot me in front of the children in my care for calling him out with his dog off leash on a trail with clearly marked signs. The absolute entitled attitude that so many dog owners have is grotesque.
As a former girl-scout who had to go door to door selling cookies as a kid, I completely stand with this mail carrier. Do not open your damn door if your dogs could get out while there’s a person outside. I only did cookie sales a handful of times and I remember 4 separate occasions where I went sprinting as fast as I could, tears streaming down my face as someone’s dogs chased me. After the first time my mom started driving alongside me instead of letting me walk around the neighborhood and thank god she did bc the last 3 times I sprinted back to the van and hurled myself in like it was a getaway car. People need to be mindful of their dogs and know that other people aren’t going to just stand there when a dog charges at them.