The Dog hates the mail carrier.

Is it the shorts? The pinched-off little vehicle? The Clipper Coupon magazine?

Whatever it is, our mail carrier – and it doesn’t matter which one—really sets off the normally mellow dog.

And while it is easy to be snarky about the carrier’s shorts and sensible shoes, it is pretty easy to figure out what is going on here.

The carrier comes to the house; the dog barks, barks, barks. And just keeps barking and the carrier leaves. In your pooch’s mind, she has won. Barking herself almost hoarse means the intruder has been scared off until the next day. Once again, the dog has earned her keep and maybe an extra peanut butter chew.

Well, at least the dog is happy with this scenario. It’s amazing annoying to everyone else of course but as long as you keep her inside and away from an actual encounter with the carrier, there is no actual harm.

In 2013, Phoenix was ranked 11^th in the country for dog bites of postal workers, with 32 attacks. If you are worried that your dog may go from barker to biter, here are a couple of tips:

• If a letter carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog into a separate room and close the door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to get at strangers.

• Parents should remind their children not to take mail directly from letter carriers in the presence of the family pet as the dog may see handing mail to a child as a threatening gesture.

So let’s be safe out there, everyone! Including that  little noisy dog at her post