There is also the possibility it is related to the dog’s sensing fear. I have noticed that my black friends seem to be more afraid of dogs in general than my white friends. It’s probably because in black neighborhoods almost all the dogs are raised for guard work or as fighting dogs, while white seem more likely to keep dogs as friendly companions.
BUT I did have a black friend who had a chow that would go nuts whenever white people came over. I’ve never been afraid of dogs and this was the first one I’ve encountered that didn’t stop barking when I got close to them.
We have asked our meter readers to ring the doorbell before they walk into our fenced in yard–so we can bring our dogs indoors for their (meter readers) protection. I should start a pit thread about NSP…those idiots. Anyway, I think another reason dogs get upset at uniformed people (I was just thinking about this in the shower I took after I posted) is that these mail people and such, in their day to day journeys, go to many houses and encounter lots of different dogs. Maybe my dogs smell strange dogs and think uniforms=strange dog smell.
Boscibo - yeah, hadn’t thought about that. These guys are tromping around all day picking up strange smells.
When I was little, we had a large, extremely protective German Shepherd. This was in the days when Shepherds were the current craze for ‘bad vicious dog’. My mom was home one day, looked out & saw the meter reader, and went to call in the dog so he wouldn’t get chomped. The guy saw her as she came out and asked her to go back inside immediately without calling the dog. After he read the meter, he stopped by the house & explained that the dog was used to him - as long as he walked straight to the meter and straight out without touching anything, she left him alone. “We have an understanding. If you call her in while I’m here, she’ll think I’m up to something and I’ll never get back in again.” I think he was a smart dog-owner, meself.
There are 3 dogs in my household, the youngest one is a Bichon, a small pure white dog. My roomate and I have a friend who is black and when she comes in that little cracker goes NUTS. Even after he calms down he growls at her if she looks at him or talks to him. And hes FINE with her husband who is white so I dont think its cultural differences in food intake as was mentioned earlier.
As far as mailmen go my dog at home (back in missiouri) absolutely LOVES to hate the mailman. Everyday around 11am he gets ready for the mailman and watches out the window for his truck to pull in up the street. When it comes he gets excited and watches the mailman go from house to house slowely getting closer. Tail and butt wagging excitedly and smiling all the way. It looks like hes going to burst with glee. Finally the mailman makes it to the house and he goes absolutly uncontrollably NUTS with growling and barking and snapping at the door. Mailman moves to the next house. Dog is now normal everyday dog again. Its freakin weird and funny.
I keep coming back to this thread…IANADP (I Am Not A Dog Psychologist) but I think your dog is doing his job at successfully keeping the mailman away. Doggie barks=mailman goes bye-bye. Dog thinks barking=mailman turning tail.