The story involves people getting hurt in a dispute which began when a mailman supposedly refused to make a delivery because of an aggressive Chihuahua.
I mention this, because by the time most people get to this, damn near all of the OP is going to be replaced by a little note from a mod saying “Copyrighted material deleted” or some such. I’m not psychic, but that’s my prediction nonetheless.
(My limited experience in such matters suggests that, yes, small yippy dogs are likely to go for you aggressively, possibly more often than big dogs. And Chihuahua bites may be unlikely to be life-threatening, but I’m sure they hurt.)
My husband (a USPS letter carrier) has actually had to use pepper-spray on teenagers before. A group of them approached him, shouting taunts at him and then throwing eggs at his head - I gather they were out stirring up trouble and saw him as a nice target. He considered that a risk to his eyes and worried about what else they might try, so he pulled out the USPS-issued pepper spray and gave them all a nice blast of the stuff. Suddenly they weren’t quite so tough any longer.
Letter carriers can choose to not deliver mail if the family dog is not kept under control. My husband will sometimes end up having to kick dogs (even small ones - they still bite) or otherwise scare them if they are aggressive towards him. In just the past few weeks he came into a yard where a family dog suddenly started snarling and barking in a pre-attack fashion at him, and the family just stood around and chuckled at Fido; he had to demand a half a dozen times that the dog be leashed, and finally one family member woke up and pinned the dog to the ground when it lunged at him. He educated them on how if he’s bitten, the USPS will go ahead and file a complaint with the police about a dog attack, which can lead to all sorts of unpleasant consequences.
Most of the dogs on his route adore him though - not the least of the reasons being that he carries dog biscuits with him to make friends. He also laughs at the amount of carriers who freak out at the sight of any dog - he’s had substitutes on his route avoid all dogs, even the most mellow, kind, gentle ones that didn’t require any bribery with treats to become friends. Some people are just afraid of dogs, I guess.
The point is, don’t argue with the postman, just keep your dog under control (in the house, or tethered away from where the postman will be) when it’s mail delivery time. They don’t need the hassle of dealing with your precious Poopsie who I’m sure is lovable to you, but may turn into a snarling/yipping fiend when an “intruder” comes into the yard. Even a small dog can be a serious pain to deal with.
There’s a big difference between “Pain to deal with” and “Terrifying threat.” A big dog barking, snarling, and lunging at you, even if it is leashed and teathered, would keep me out of ANYONE’s yard. If I were a postal worker and came across this, I would either come back later, or tie their mail around a rock and throw it on their step and leave.
But a Chihuahua HARDLY fits this description. 90% of the time, yappy dogs turn and run the second you look at them, talk to them, or take a single step in their direction. Even the more vicious and violent ones that do charge and attack will do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!! I once played with a friend’s chihuahua for half an hour doing nothing but pissing it off and letting it chew on me as vigorously as it wanted to. It was funny because it’s angry face reminded me of how most people perceive aliens look. And also because it never ONCE broke the skin.
In this story, though, it wasn’t really the mailman who overreacted, but the dude with the tire iron. Even with no intention of hitting him with it, what was the point to getting it if you weren’t going to use it for something. THAT guy, is a jackass.
I agree, some small dogs can’t even manage to do anything other than put up a fuss then pee all over if challenged on it. But the ones that do try to attack regardless can at least be difficult - maybe they charge you while you’re on the front steps and you trip on them. I’ve heard of him dragging a snarling small pooch along, with it fastened through his pants leg into his boot underneath, up to the door, then shaking vigorously a few times to finally get the dog to let go. Or if they do break the skin, that’s almost a guaranteed trip to the hospital if you can’t catch the dog and prove that its rabies shots are up to date - which did happen to my husband, and actually the dog was rabid which is why it attacked him.
And I also agree that it sounds like some big argument got way out of hand; the chihuahua might have been the root cause of the complaint but it sounds like tempers were nasty enough that nearly anything might have sparked it.
In my experience with dogs, having an uncle and aunt who are breeders and showers, as well as having made a more than casual study of the differences in variation in the Poodle, I have to say that, in fact, the smaller dogs tend to be more vicious, more likely to bite, and faster to lunge than larger dogs. Certainly, a larger dog can do more damage, but unless provoked or maltrained, it is unlikely to do so without obvious signals.
Smaller dogs can… not all, but this is especially prevalent in puppy mill or excessively inbred purebreds, have a few screws loose in their head. Also, I think they suffer from a lack of confidence, resulting in a larger chance of confrontation. Your average home-Doberman knows he’s in control of the situation. Your Shi-tzu is a lot more anxious.
And any dog bite is pretty much a good chance for serious infection. Not as bad as a cat claw, but there’s good chances of it. Not to mention rabies.
All generalizations are just that, generalizations. I know many very friendly small dogs that love the world… hm. But very few large dogs. This may be because they get put down or trained harsher, because they can hurt people, whereas small dogs are viewed as cute and protective.
Here is what I learned in my time as a letter carrier. Small dogs may not be able to do the damage that a big dog can but their bites can require stitches and infections. They also can mean loss of wages. The post office does its damndest to avoid paying any work related injury and even though they will eventualy have to cough up for a bite on the street, they will make the process as difficult as possible in hopes that you back down and cover it yourself. Furthermore if that infection is bad enough you cant work overtime you could loose up to half of your income.
The post office won’t back up carriers on very much, the only time they will is if the carrier feels threatened, because an injury to a carrier means that they have to pay the carrier as well as someone to actualy carry the mail. They don’t like having to pay twice. Pretty much they tell you in training that if a dog is unleashed they don’t care if its dead and toothless don’t go near it.
Never underestimate the powers of destruction inherent in very small, very angry dogs. In all my years of dog training, having dealt with many aggressive dogs of many breeds, I can say honestly that the most aggressive, vicious, attack-prone dog I have ever met was a miniature dachshund. It weighed less than twenty pounds, stood not more than 8 inches from the ground at the shoulder, and it could back off an intact male rottweiler just by snarling.
Our UPS guy used to act afraid of our dear old springer spaniel, Miss Emily Kimberly. She liked to snooze in the driveway on warm afternoons, and of course when the truck pulled in she would egt up and bark. Anybody who knows anything about dogs could tell that this fat old girl was not going to advance toward him, and in fact she would back up (still barking intermittently) as he approached. But still he would act all nervous, so I just figured he was afraid of strange dogs (no judgment there – you can hardly blame a delivery gy for this!), and I would go out and unnecessarily grab her collar so he would hand me the package.
A few years passed, and so did Miss Emily, and we acquired two new springers, sisters from litters two years apart. One day shortly after we brought Dottie home, we stopped at the bank on our way somewhere, and while Mr. S was inside I sat with Dottie in her crate under the tailgate of our minivan. (Er, the puppy was the only one in the crate.) Anyway, here comes UPS guy into the bank parking lot to drop some packages, and he recognizes my van and walks over – and starts admiring Dottie. I tell him a bit about her, and he says that not only is he in the market for a springer pup, but he’s owned springers for years!
That flummoxed me. You would think that having owned them for years, he would have been able to interpret Emily’s intentions a little better. It’s weird. Now whenever I speak to him, he always asks how Dottie is doing. Last time, she happened to be out loose with me, and he petted her and then pulled out a picture of his springer that he kept in his truck.
I also know of a household with three Rotties (including one intact male) and a miniature something-or-other where the little one runs the show. Think “chicken hawk.”
Well, to be fair to the UPS guy, Scarlett, the behavior you’re describing in Emily is typical of a scared, defensive dog. A scared, defensive dog is way, way more dangerous than an aggressive dog. Aggressive or territorial dogs are usually okay as long as they don’t feel threatened, but with a scared dog all bets are off.
And yes, I’ll agree that little dogs are far more likely, in my experience, to bite (or at least make a damned good try). Factor in the fact that small breeds are prone to having nasty, nasty teeth just swimming with bacteria, and you’ve got a real danger of serious infection. I knew a lady who got a pretty minor dog bite near the wrist, and she landed in the hospital on IV antibiotics for the better part of a week.
Now who the hell’s gonna take that kind of risk for their paycheck if they don’t absolutely have to?
Our dog is a barker, and I have no doubt she’d attack an unwanted intruder, but she’s very lovable once she knows you or knows you’re allowed in the house. But because she’s a barker (and a mixed breed German Sheperd), our mailman is wary. However, the dog is securely in the house, and the windows close. I think one time we left the window open and she jumpd up against the screen, so he’s been wary every since. He even left us a note about her, and evidently has us marked as a “dangerous dog household” (he accidentally left the warning card in our mailbox once).
Every time I’ve met him, though, he’s quite nice. And it’s only if we have to sign for a package, which is rare - our mailbox is on the street.
I don’t blame him, though - I wouldn’t want his job.
A couple of years ago I had some kind of a hound mutt(pound dog) and a Spitz. The Spitz was a pure breed so it was obviously the nut-job. He would bark at anything at the door and he would go nuts if someone actually came in the house. The mutt was more layed back and wouldn’t bother to even get up unless someone came in the door.
Now I have a shepard mix (pound dog). She’s still a puppy but she weighs about 50 lbs. Whenever someone comes in the door, she runs and hides. Even people she has met a couple of times, she still needs to be coaxed into coming into the room to meet them. About the only time she barks is when she wants me to let her back in the house.