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 friendly Goldie ran up to say hello to a man in the park and the man kicked him. While I think the man was weird and unkind, I didn’t actually mind. Goldie needs to learn not to run up to people. All dogs do, unless they are there to defend territory, in which case put your postbox outside your gate.

Just out of curiosity, would you be ok with someone who is scared of cats kicking one because they approached them?

Haven't read the article but in the postie's defence, terriers can be vicious little shites. Something like a jack Russell is much more likely to bite than a lab, for example.

The dog should not be out barking and behaving threateningly towards anyone.

I have 2 dogs. One, the terrier, is not allowed out in the front garden anymore. She has never bitten anyone and is a total sweetheart when we out on walks etc. However, she started lunging towards the postie and barking at her. She should not have to endure that when going about her daily work so the dog is now relegated to the back garden.

Good for him. If you have a dog loose in your garden and you want to receive your mail, you should have a mailbox that the postie can safely access. They should be able to refuse to deliver your mail otherwise, and you collect it from the sorting office. Otherwise keep the fecking thing out of the way when the postie comes. It's not hard, it happens most days, and unless you are completely thick you should be able to deal with it.
I'd be suing if your dog bit me while I was doing my job.

Watched the video a few times and the dog yaps and looks like goes for the postie he then gets kicked unfortunately owners of the dog to blame why should he get bitten just for doing his job does not matter the size of the dog, if it goes for you you react

Small dogs can bite too, and any bite is painful and needs a trip to a&e. Don't blame him at all. Postmen are always at risk from uncontrolled dogs

My other half is a postie and a dog lover having worked with rescue dogs for 8 years of his life

Most of the dogs on our round treat him like a best friend because he makes a point of slowly at their pace making friends with dogs on his round, and gets to the point where they are running up to him for ear scratches within weeks, even the ones that were nervous at first get excited when they see him even when he isn't in work

But he has also had dogs be aggressive towards him, big and small ones, when this is unusual for the dog he gives the owner a heads up in case pain or illness is causing the dog to act out of character

But the two occasions where he has been attacked by dogs with the owners stood there, he has used his training in dog control to deal with the situation, in the case of the German shepherd this was big shouts, being confident, making himself look firm and unscared

With the little terrier determined to grab onto his leg above his bolt by jumping, yes he did push him with his leg, then fend him off with his boot while he got to the van, he was hardly going to risk damage to his hands on top of the rather nasty bite on his leg , small dogs have teeth too, and yes they bloody well can cause severe damage to muscles on an adult, the only thing an adult doesn't have to worry about from a small dog is death

If your dog us going to intimidate postman don't be surprised if you get a stern letter and made to pick up your own post in future, Royal Mail are serious about protecting their workers from dog bites and postman are allowed to refuse to deliver post due to dogs being aggressive or a nuisance

Exactly. He reacted after being bitten, and I don't blame him!

Absolutely justified. I'd have done exactly the same. Hopefully a lesson learned for the owners to train their dog.

I was bitten by a small dog just like that as a teen, it managed to launch itself over it's garden fence and run across the road to me. Really affected me for years and years and I'm only now (20 years later) getting over my fear of dogs.

If my dog ever bit anyone unprovoked then he would be gone, no question I don’t understand why anyone would think any differently or why size should matter, a dog that bites is a dog that bites = dangerous
People have right to respond in defence if they are attacked by a dog, having now watched the video I don’t blame him at all for his reaction, the owner should be ashamed.

As someone bitten on the ankle by a small dog when I was walking down the street, I would also react in the same way at kick out as would feel in danger. Whether I was male or female or 6ft or 4ft. Not seen the video.

An adult man kicking a small dog is not okay, no exceptions.

So he should just let the dog continue biting him? Honestly?

This, it’s utterly pathetic and cruel and I can’t believe how many people are so weak about it.

Dogs should be kept under control. Many people delivering post are bitten by dogs. Some extremely serious injuries are suffered. The dog was charging at the postman.

Small dogs are often the most vicious/prone to biting.

Do not blame the postman at all.

it’s the owners fault entirely.

Sick of these kind of pet owners, that think their pet can do no wrong and other people have to adapt around their dogs anti social behaviour. People trump animals, end of (and I say this as a dog lover)

The postman kicked out as the dog was running towards him barking. Must have been very close to him to fly that fast.
Keep your dog indoors if he goes for people

I feel for the postman, what is he supposed to do?

I have watched the video and think the postman kicked out instinctively in reaction to a rapidly approaching and aggressively barking dog. I have owned dogs all my life but when younger had some unpleasant encounters with dogs when delivering papers and the twice I was badly bitten drawing blood) it was small jack russel terrier type dogs. I gave up my paper round after the second incident but this was a pocket money job not my livelihood. The number of post men and women who get bitten is shocking.

@coyotee

”An adult man kicking a small dog is not okay, no exceptions.“

should he just allow himself to get bitten then?! Or just wait and see if dog will bite him?

DONT BE RIDICULOUS!

It does look from the video that the dog nipped him, you can see the postman flinching before kicking the dog off. Maybe the owners should stop their dog from randomly attacking people

@Tamzo85

Should he just allow himself to get bitten then?! Or just wait and see if dog will bite him? Why the hell should he? Dogs have sharp teeth that can do damage if they want to regardless of what size body they have.

would you just let the dog bite you then?
No….didn’t think so!

DONT BE RIDICULOUS!

Some people think their dogs can do no wrong, even when they are literally savaging people

My husbands a postman and a few years back a postman friend of his got badly bitten.
Little dogs can bite just as bad as big dogs, in actual fact I'm more wary of the little ankle biters.
They should of kept the dog in or train the dog to sit and wait and not go out unless instructed.
Feel sorry for both as it should not of happened the owners are to blame in this instance.

Good god. Everyone in the wrong here. Owner should not have had the dog running loose at the postman, but the postman’s kick was disproportionate - that dog flew several feet and I would say that is cruelty.

@rnsaslkih

it shouldn’t have tried to bite then