Marcus, The (apparently) Delicious Mailman
by Los Angeles Dog Trainer Rebecca Setler
Oh, Marcus, you must taste like Milk Bones and chicken gravy... why else would all the dogs on my block keep trying to eat you?
My mailman, Marcus, was attacked by a dog AGAIN yesterday. As usual, it was a big, unneutered neighborhood dog who had shown warning signs that an attack was coming. Warning signs everyone in the neighborhood took seriously. Everyone except the dog's owners.
Last year, my block was terrorized on a twice-weekly basis by a big, brindle dog who couldn't resist the temptation to break out of his yard and cruise the neighborhood. He had a taste for gardeners... the sound of a leaf-blower would send the dog, at breakneck speed, toward the nearest gardener. The gardeners were consistently able to use their equipment to keep the dog away, but it was a scary thing to see. It's almost funny that the only way the owners could get him to come back was to come out and start running their weed-whacker so he'd make a U-turn and run back home, thinking there was a gardener on his home turf who needed a good mauling.
I offered advice, which the owners were not receptive to. The Animal Control Department was called, but by the time they arrived, the dog was always "safely" back in his yard.
After a couple of months of escalation, Marcus had his date with destiny. The dog rushed him, grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him to the end of the block. All 6'3", 240 pounds of him. The dog was put to sleep soon thereafter.
I talked to Marcus a while after the incident, and he said something that sent chills down my spine... "I'm a big man with dog bite prevention training. Imagine if that dog had grabbed one of these kids out here".
I'm lucky enough to live in a neighborhood where kids still play outside. Every day, there are kids wrestling and playing catch on the front lawns and riding tiny bicycles, skateboards and scooters up and down the sidewalk. As sad as the ending of that dog's story was, there was a real sense of relief that the kids, the gardeners, and the rest of us could be out on the street without worry. Then a new menace turned up on the block.
Another big dog, all muscle, who started to worry the neighbors only about a week ago, when he started escaping from his yard. He had been around for a while, but hasn't been able to cause much trouble, since the poor fella spent most of his time tied to a tree. In this case, believe it or not, his "owner" is a 13 year old girl, who, most likely, simply didn't know any better.
This dog appeared to be pretty mellow and started out looking like our neighborhood's equivalent of "Petey" from The Little Rascals, hanging out with his owner and her friends. But his days tied to a tree built lots of frustration for the lonely, bored dog, and his lack of proper training took their it's toll.
He started getting out of the yard when his owners were away from home, and he'd wander around, peeing on trees and minding his own business. Within a few days, he started charging after and barking at, you guessed it, the neighborhood gardeners. I warned Marcus the mailman and my husband had a neighborly talk with the dog's owners, expressing our concern. Animal Control was called on at least one occasion, but nothing came of it.
Then, yesterday, along came Marcus. The dog barked at him when he approached their house. He decided to play it safe and walked to the other side of the street. The dog charged him. Without looking both ways before crossing the street. He was hit by a car. Those who saw it happen were amazed to see the dog take off running, after being hit hard by the the car and rolling gruesomely several times as the car passed over him. He hasn't been seen since.
As a dog trainer, this is all especially frustrating to me. These dogs weren't evil dogs that were "born bad". And their owners certainly weren't nasty people who were trying to make their dogs mean. These dogs' aggressive behavior was primarily caused by a lack of proper care and training due to a lack of knowledge on the part of their owners.
I no longer accept clients with highly aggressive dogs, but, in honor of my Milk Bone flavored mailman, I felt compelled to offer some basic information that might help to prevent incidents like this. Please read my "Training and Management of Aggressive Dogs" article, which offers information useful to all dog owners, whether or not their dogs are showing signs of aggression.
