My dog bit the mail lady.

[hedgehog]

I was helping her bring packages in and he ran off the porch and grabbed her by the seat of the pants and then grabbed her wrist. I know he broke the skin on her wrist. He could have done some real damage if he'd had a mind to, this was more in the way of grabbing her. Now I don't know what to do with him. He barks at strangers, but this is the first time he's ever done anything like this.

[MissMillie]

1. you'll probably need to crate him as you answer the door

:shrug:

or some other way of restraining him more effectively.

[xchrom]

2. i'm sorry -- that's very traumatic.

if it were me i would try to consult a dog trainer.

but that's me.

[BikeWriter]

3. "What breed is he?" BW asked cautiously.

[hedgehog]

5. He's a mixed breed that looks mostly like a hunting dog or hound.

I never would have gone outside if I had thought he was anywhere near the porch. I guess he's had it with all the delivery trucks the last few days.

[BikeWriter]

16. He's feeling territorial evidently. He should respect you...

to make the first move if there's a problem. Instead, he asserted himself.

[Midlodemocrat]

4. Yikes! I think you are going to have trouble.

I hope she doesn't decide to sue you or anything like that. In the meantime, I wouldn't let the dog near anyone else.

Sorry that happened to you.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

6. Lock him up when you answer the door or have company.

We had a very aggressive German Shepherd. The doorbell rang, she barked three times and walked into the basement. They get used to being put away when company comes.

Hopefully, you won't have to deal with lawsuits or anything like that.

[trof]

11. Funny. "There goes the bell. Guess it's time to head for the basement."

Nothing like putting yourself on report.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

12. Yeah, it's like she was just like, "I know. I know. I'll just try to rip their face off..."

She was the sweetest dog with the family and the cats. She just didn't like strangers. The weird thing is anybody that met her before she hit about seven months old was always welcome. We had family visit when she was maybe about six years old. She hadn't seen them since she was a puppy. They were immediately able to grab her leash and take her for a walk. She had an amazing memory. The cats were also her babies. When they were kittens, she'd carry them around by the scruff. Even when they grew up, she'd still groom them, they'd sleep in the crate with her and if they were doing anything wrong, she'd go discipline them like a puppy that got out of line.

[trof]

14. If you came in with a purse, you couldn't leave with it.

Max was a BIG German Shepherd.
As he got older and the testosterone started kicking in he became very aggressive.
One of his rules was that you couldn't leave the house with anything in your hand.
He'd just grab your purse and hold on to it.
I had to either tell him it was OK, or carry your purse out for you.
This was funny at first, but he started to get scarey.

We loved him and wanted to keep him. I actually consulted a pet shrink who recommended neutering him, which we did. It settled him down quite a bit and he was with us for several more years.

[Shakespeare]

7. My parents' (late) Lhasa-pooh would just lose his mind over the mailman.

He was otherwise an extremely sweet, docile dog (would let my cockatiel bully him and climb all over him), but for whatever reason, he would turn into a snarling, vicious hellhound if he caught sight of the mailman (and did bite him once). His poodle half was standard poodle, so he was a solid, medium-sized dog.

We learned to just be very careful about keeping him contained at all times, and would close him up in another room if the mailman rang the doorbell for any reason.

[hedgehog]

8. What happened with the mailman?

My mail lady didn't want to report it because she didn't want to go to the emergency room. I just hope he didn't hurt her seat too bad. The bite on her wrist is minor, more like two scratches, but he did grab her, there's no denying that.

[Shakespeare]

13. If I remember correctly,

..he did go to the emergency room, but I don't think my parents were liable for the cost in any way (I'd have to check with them to make sure). I guess it's covered under the USPS's workers' comp coverage.

[trof]

20. Occupational hazard, I'd guess.

[cwydro]

9. Oooh, I had a part chow (god rest her furry soul)

years ago and she nipped our mailman. He was seriously pissed (not the friendliest guy anyway). The skins wasn't broken, thank god. What did your mail lady do?

[uppityperson]

10. I got a soft muzzle for our dog when he grabbed another dog.

He has to wear it if he is around other dogs, just in general, and here at home when he gets too barky/excited when vehicles come. It has gotten to the point I can show it to him and he becomes a fur rug.

[pitohui]

15. wait till your homeowner's insurer finds out

you think you got trouble now?

i think in reality you will have to get rid of the dog or lose your insurance

reading further, let's hope the mail lady keeps your secret, that's above and beyond the call of duty tho, i would have filed a complaint i'm sorry to say

[billyskank]

18. I would totally have too

There's no way I'd deliver mail somewhere I might get bitten.

[China_cat]

22. Our insurance made us sign a new policy

that was more expensive even though it DIDN'T cover the dogs for anything (even though our dogs had never caused any problems). So we have insurance for everything but the furkids and anything that could be laid at their feet. Someone slips in dogshit and falls? Not covered. A dog chews through a wire and causes a fire? Not covered.

[marzipanni]

17. We took our male dog to the psychology department

at University of California, Davis, Veterinary School to consult about the dog becoming more belligerent and displaying his desire to be Alpha male. The docs told us to make sure our dog understood that we were boss, by making him obey commands to sit and come, etc., a regimen he would have to follow or not be fed anything.
Has your dog exhibited any growling, or other threatening behavior?

[trof]

21. Same here. Had to have him neutered.

He was like a loaded gun.
Ready to be Alpha.
Calmed him right down.
We enjoyed many more years together.

[SacredCow]

19. Sounds like protective behavior

but not necessarily aggressive. That's a tough call- maybe the suggestions of obedience training are on the mark.

Did something recently happen that might have caused this? I had a great dane once who was a true representative of the breed- a gentle giant. He rarely barked at strangers- typically he would run up to new faces to check them out. A few sniffs and licks and he was on his merry, goofy way. That said, a dog of his size running up to you could be percieved as a threat and that's exactly what one UPS delivery person thought; they sprayed him with pepper spray. From that day on, whenever he saw a UPS truck or a person in a UPS uniform, he went into uber-protection mode. He did NOT tolerate their presence- period.

We should have had him audition for a Fed-Ex or USPS commercial, I guess...

[hedgehog]

23. Protective, not aggressive sounds right.

It's just that I wish he hadn't been so protective. She'd been opening the porch door to set packages on our screened porch, so I guess he thought she was in his space. He shot right past me to grab her. It may have been that the smaller dog barking egged him on.

I'd like to give her something to show that I'm sorry, but I don't want it to seem like a bribe.