Postal Letter - Why does my dog hate the mailman?

Why does my dog hate the mailman?

My dog loves everyone except the mailman. We even got a new mailman and he still hates him. Once he got out and chased the mailman down the street. Does he recognize the uniform or something?

Public Comments

Yup. A mailman at some point probably kicked him or did something else very nasty to him. Now he associates the uniform with that experience.
Could be that since he did not like the first mailman, he recognizes the uniform. I thought dogs could smell people, is it possible the mailman runs away so fast that your dog cannot get a good sniff? I guess an affair with the mailman is out of the question :-(
Your dog knows something you don't. Check this psycho mailman up. He's probably the kind that always rings twice too.
It's not a uniform thing, it's a territorial thing. Dogs, defend their property and mailmen, meter readers, etc., seem to have no respect -- in their little doggie minds -- for their boundaries.
does the mailmen try to get in ur pants?
tipical, mabey the mailman has a clone on or something.
i think that our animals don't understand why these people come to their house to bring something, and its not a treat. they probably wonder why they visit so often, daily as a matter of fact, well except for sunday or special holidays.. it does seem like they would get use to their scent though. animals do decide though who will and who won't invade their territory.
ITS THE MAILMANS THOUGHTS AND VIBES. HE EXPECTS DOGS TO BITE HIM SO THEY DO "GET IT" ?
Many mail carriers often keep a can of pepper spray handy in case a dog (or a person for that matter) tries to attack them. If your dog got too close to your mail carrier, even just being friendly, the mail carrier may have sprayed your dog just in case. Pepper spray makes your dogs eyes to burn and itch for hours, and so this would be enough to anger the dog to the point where it would hate and wish to attack the mail carrier. I would suggest talking to your mail carrier about the situation, in order to find out if he/she sprayed your dog. If he/she did spray your dog, you can talk to him/her and try to work out an arrangement with your dog so that the mail carrier doesn't feel threatened.
Your dog is an Anti-social dog. My dog is just like that. Your dog tends to not like people. If he does, dogs acually want to MEET the mailman. If he bites him, he OR she just dosn't like the mailman.
The dog probably feels its territory is being invaded.
The dog knows his home and his family. He knows that the mailman neither lives there nor is part of the family. To the dog the mailman is an outsider and therefore to be suspect. You might try meeting the mailman away from your property and make sure he has treats. Carefully control your dog, have him sit, stay, and be quite. The let the mailman place a treat on the ground. Over time work up to where the mailman give give the trat directly. Eventually more it to your property. If you cannot control your dog, join an obedience class.
My husband is a mailman and they only allowed to spray a dog if it is aggressive, they should first drop their bag then spray. But he probably doesn't like the various smells that mailmen smell like, think about it those guys and girls walk all over other peoples yards and kick up scents and god only knows what your dog thinks about it. A mailman/letter carrier has hundreds of stops which means hundreds of opportunity to pick up different smells. Your dog is probably confused that this human smells like a million different things: cats, dogs, and other wild critters. Just try to keep your dog up around the time the mailperson comes around if he is dependable. They don't have to delivery to your house if your dog is a danger. You could be made to get a po box or pick up mail at the office window. If your dog attacks a mailman he could sue just as quick as a neighbor could. Be careful and as long as it's just barking at a distance and no charging or biting you'll be fine. The mail people are used to dogs barking at them!
Abuse is not necessarily the reason a dog hates the mailman. It all starts with the mailman walking up and delivering the mail. The dog barks because it is a strange person. The mailman leaves. The dog thinks that his barking caused him to leave, and this happens EVERY SINGLE DAY, reinforcing the behavior in the dog. To me it sounds like this is how it started and, in your dogs head, it has escalated. He thinks he's the "boss" when it comes to the mailman. Basically, his ego has become inflated when it comes to the mailman, and if he got maced when he chased him, it probably worsened his behavior as well. Best bet? make sure he is restrained in a safe way when the mail comes. And when the mailman does get there, take some good treats and redirect your dog to sitting for instead, he gets more out of that then bothering with the mailman. And a good training class couldn't hurt, either.