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Dog Aggression - Finally, I Now Understand Why The Mailman Drives My Dog Crazy! (Part 1)

Dog Aggression - Finally, I Now Understand Why The Mailman Drives My Dog Crazy! (Part 1)

Does you dog go absolutely crazy when the mailman comes to your house? Does he even keep barking and acting excitably after the mailman has dropped the mail through the door and walked away? Why does they display such behavior, as if the mailman was trying to break in?

It Comes Down To Territory

Anytime anything unfamiliar comes to your home or even near it your dog will bark and growl. This includes the mailman. In your dog’s mind the mailman has no business being on what they think is their territory. Most dog owners are aware of this situation.

What most dog owners don’t know is that the mail that was left behind also throws up a few red flags to a dog and makes them extremely nervous. Why is this? Well a dog spends a lot of time marking all of their territory with their own scent and because the mail contains so  many unfamiliar smells from everywhere else it has been it gives your dog anxiety.

To a dog, the idea that a strange person would just come along every day and put more smells on top of theirs can be notably offensive. I should know because before I had properly trained him, my Chihuahua used to shred up every bit of mail that was dropped through the door. 

As you can probably guess, this was extremely nerve-racking to me and I lost a lot of important information! However, after doing a bit of research I came to realize that my dog was just looking after our home and trying his best to “protect us”. Needless to say, I soon built a fence so that any mail that was delivered was not eaten up by my dog.

Give Your Dog Some Credit

You must look at the positive side of this and at least commend your dog for being so loyal as to go through the trouble of wanting to protect his family. But on the other hand, loud and nonstop barking can drive many people crazy.

Do Not Let Him Escape!

On top of that some dogs will go as far as trying to bite an innocent mailman who is just doing his or her job. Even though you may have your dog secured inside during the day while you are at work, he may be able to find a way to escape one day and literally attack your mailman. This is no joke.  In fact, almost 4000 mailmen report dog bites every single year.