Postman kicking dog

[Lokiju]

Daily Fail article (I know, I know, but I can't sleep) about a postie kicking a dog. Doorbell video shows the incident - I can see why he did it.

Small terrier type dog running toward him, looks like a purely instinctive defensive kick - I think the owners here were irresponsible and should have had their dog under control.

Poor dog was defending the property, but poor Postman defending himself.

It's horrible the dog was kicked (I love dogs, I have my own and foster) but 33 posties are attacked by dogs every week apparently - they should be allowed to defend themselves.

My dog will bark once if bell rings & find one of us but he is then told to sit & wait, he never greets people at the door before we do, not ever.
Similarly if we have our front door open for whatever reason he knows that he is not allowed past that threshold unless he is given a specific command. I don’t want him bolting out & running around the front garden. We trained him that way & I don’t understand why some owners don’t undertake basic training to stop this sort of thing happening.

The law states that owners must have their dog under control at all times - and that law changed recently to include your own private property.

I haven't seen the video and don't advocate kicking animals but if the dog was running up to the postman, snapping and growling then it could be considered legally out of control.

It doesn't matter that it's only a small dog - all dog bites can get infected and turn incredibly nasty and septic. The owners should have had their dog inside or under enough control to recall it immediately, even if the dog was in its own garden.

The postman was there doing his job and has the right to be safe while doing so. If your dog is prone to growling and snapping at strangers then it shouldn't be left outdoors unattended in an area that's freely accessible by guests or workmen.

When I had German Shepherds I was sick of out of control small dogs. You don't know if they are just yappy, or are a threat. One of my dogs was left with scarring from being attacked. When I was on warfarin and had immune system problems (which meant antibiotics for everything), I used to be more scared of small dogs than I would have been of big dogs who are readable. It was normally me who'd have to kick the small dogs away, or my GS would have reacted. A lot of small dogs do a leap thing in the air, so you can't judge how forceful the kick was based on the distance they landed. This was 100% the owners fault.

Even little dogs have teeth, and not all are friendly. Also, getting bitten just above your heel is no better than being bitten in your calf - maybe worst.
Years ago I was watching a pocket size dog obstinately trying to chew someone's boots. The owner was just watching and laughing, blissfully unaware that without the boot as protection this "silly-little-dog-nothing-to-be-afraid-of" could have seriously damaged someone's tendons. All dogs need to be treated with caution.
As for the police doing anything about dogs feeling people threatened - as they should in theory, I'm not sure they'll be able to take anyone off from what seems to be their main job these days - acting as though police on behalf of Twitter.

To those saying it’s a small dog therefore a grown man shouldn’t be afraid, small dogs can be incredibly vicious. I’ve been bitten and attacked by two (both with owners saying ‘he’s friendly he won’t bite’ as small snarly dog jumps up at me as I’m casually walking past).

I have two dogs and I adore them. However some dog owners do need to get over the mentality that everyone should love and adore their dogs and that everyone wants them jumping up on them on walks/in homes.

If a dog was coming straight at you and likely to bite, it’s natural to defend yourself. Entirely different if he’d just decided to walk up and kick the dog.

I actually thought that if a dog bit a postman it had to be destroyed. My grandmother had a mad dog that bit the postie once and it had to go, this was some years ago. Can it be enforced by the law? IMO once a dog has bitten it shouldn’t be anywhere near the general public without a muzzle.

ime (as a runner) it's the small dogs that are less likely to be well trained or restrained.

I have been bitten by yorkies and and other dogs that size.
and yes, I try not to ambush dogs and I keep a respectful distance.

Small dogs can be very unpredictable and often people mistake them for being playful when they charge on you grabbing and biting your ankles and it's too late. My dc nearly got attacked by one last year in a park where I just jumped in front of it and picked up dc and held my foot by its face in case he tried to attack again with the stupid owner shouting at me. Keep your dog under control. I don't allow my child to go out biting people or attacking them. From the video I can see the postie had his back delivering post with a small dog charging towards him where he turns around and kicks it. He wasn't facing and waiting for the dog so he could give a good kick.

and yes, I have pushed dogs away from me with my legs. might have looked like a kick from a distance.

but using the foot would probably be wiser if wearing sturdy shoes.

All the news reports seem to concentrate on the kick rather than the bite.
The owners seem more concerned about the kick than the bite.

The kick looks bad, but I'm sure many people would react badly to the surprise of even a small unexpected bite.

I saw the video and it is uncomfortable to watch. But you're not seeing what the postman saw, you can't see how the dog was presenting.

Having done some work for Royal Mail some years ago, the percentage of postmen/ women who have been attacked and bitten by dogs is quite significant. And we're not just talking a little nip, sometimes they could be nasty injuries resulting in infection, loss of a finger, considerable time off work etc.

I suspect this postie may well have been on the receiving end more than once. If I'd been bitten before, and saw a growling dog running towards me, my instincts to protect myself would kick in.

It depends on lots of different things.

If it goes to court, the owner will likely need to muzzle and leash their dog in public for life, but generally dogs aren't PTS after one bite unless the bite is really serious - eg. results in hospitalisation, surgery or death.

My neighbour had a french bulldog quite small
But it was the most vicious dog I’ve ever met
she eventually had to have her put to sleep
it bit her brothers hand so bad he needed surgery
small dogs can bite just as bad as a big dog in my experience
I have a dog but I have a gate and an outside post box as she can be a bit territorial and I like my postman

IMO a dog shouldn’t get away with poorly behaved or poorly controlled due to size.
little dogs can still hurt babies or give a nasty ankle bite needing stitches and injections.
If you have a dog running free, you get a postbox outside the gate. Simple

metro.co.uk/2022/05/15/manchester-royal-mail-postman-filmed-kicking-familys-dog-16646048/

According to the article the dog nipped the postman.

In the video you can see that the dog takes the postman by surprise. He's standing at the door getting a signature and the dog seems to appear from nowhere. The postman clearly instinctively reacts.

I know there's a lot of "fur baby" parents on here but honestly some of these comments are shameful. Just because he's a man and the dog is small doesn't mean he shouldn't react with fear. I'll bet this isn't the first time a dog has gone for him.

You have a legal obligation to keep your dog under control AT ALL TIMES. Lots of dog owners don't seem to realise this. If your dog is running up to someone, and trying to nip them or even just jumping up at someone then you are breaking the law by not having them under your control.

I have no issue with what he’s done. Everyone has the right to work without being harassed by animals and people.

Small dogs can be incredibly vicious and dangerous- they still have teeth! They're bred to hunt- to wriggle into small spaces & catch fast moving prey or to jump up & take the throat out of bigger animals- huge prey drives. I was chased by an aggressive jack russell that appeared out of an un-gated garden on my walk to school. I also know someone who only semi jokingly calls their maltese terrier the guard dog/ extra burglar alarm, not their much bigger doodle. I would never under estimate a small dog - as pp have said, they are not very readable.

I don't like that a dog got kicked but it shouldn't have been in a position to hurt or be hurt, it was failed. I can quite understand why the postie kicked it- why risk a bite. I can imagine that once they've done the job a while their tolerance for that sort of thing is very low. I wonder if the dog has gone for people before but it's been laughed off as cute.

I've never got why small dogs get away with murder but people are mindful that similar sized and possibly less powerful cats can and do scratch, so treat even friendly ones with rightful respect and caution. Same people go mushy over a yorkie, even if it's growling and bearing teeth!

Dog lover/owner.

I dont blame the postie for his reaction. If anything the owners should be apologising to him.

I hate any kind of dog running at me. I was brought up with dogs, my whole family are dog lovers and I am around dogs on a daily basis but I still get frightening if ANY dog is aggressive towards me. I think postmen/women should be allowed to refuse to deliver to homes where the dogs arent under control (preferably in the house) we have a huge problem in this country of people believing dogs have more rights than humans, what if a child wanders near a 'tiny fluffy dog' these dogs are aggressive and shouldn't be allowed to run around outside. Like a PP said if you want your dog to roam around your garden then you either collect your own mail from the post office or install a post box outside your gate.

Small dogs can give you a nasty bloody bite! Postmen get attacked every day - I was chased by a dog when I delivered papers as a 12 year old and it nearly bit me so I was lucky. So his reaction was to kick it away ,he probably didn't even see the size till it was there

People are allowed to defend themselves if an unrestrained dog lunges towards them.

People will try to make excuses about the size of the dog or the dog’s disposition, but it really comes down to an owner’s responsibility to prevent a dog from approaching anyone without permission in the first place.

No it would be the thick as shit parents who allow a toddler to scale a wall. Fuck me.

A bite from a small dog can still hurt/ bleed/ give you tetanus and need stitches.

I love dogs but would have instinctively done the same if a dog was running at me, of any size. Owners should control their dogs.

Then you need to train your dog or physically put it on a tether to stop it getting to the door.

If a dog runs to attack you, you want to make sure it doesn’t come back for a second go. And if course he was angry. People who deliver mail have to face dog attacks because of irresponsible owners all the time. I’m sure he’s had his fill if it and wanted to make sure the dog didn’t come back for a second go.

The only people at fault here are the owners.