Talk About Living Up To Your Stereotype!

[BigDon]

It's my neighbors.

Or more specifically their dog, a yorkie named Pinoche. (With the thingy over the "e") Who happens to be stone blind.

The only person he barks at is the mailman! Which begs the question, how the heck does he know it's the mailman? He's never barked at me, even before we were introduced and I would say hi everyday so he knew I was there. (He suns himself on his front doorstep as his owners, an older Mexican couple, not only leave their frontdoor unlocked, but wide open) All he would do is raise his head and sniff in my direction.

It's not opening the mailboxes that sets him off, as others go and get their mail and he doesn't let out a peep, (or a woof, if you prefer). And not only that, but the street my apartment is on is what's know as a "training route" for mailmen, so it's a different mailman every week to ten days.

So, do any dogologists out there have a clue as to what's up with him? Does he not like the leather mailbag? Is he keying in on the stamp glue?

[LaurelHS]

This reminds me of the Far Side cartoon where two dogs are sitting on the porch and a cat is walking away with a bag of mail, and one of the dogs says, "We're getting old, Jake."

[sarongsong]

Maybe a mailman 'did something' to the dog in the past, perhaps in an attempt to silence or ward it off, therefore all mailmen are suspect?
Do the training mailmen arrive in a vehicle within earshot of the dog? My mailman has a very distinctive-sounding Jeep that announces the mail's arrival.

[Drunk Vegan]

It's not opening the mailboxes that sets him off, as others go and get their mail and he doesn't let out a peep, (or a woof, if you prefer).

Maybe you were on to something here. If I had to take a guess I'd say the reason that lots of dogs don't like mailmen (and garbagemen, for that matter) is that they are defending their territory.

By entering the property that the dog knows belongs to his owners, and taking something from it, garbagemen and mailmen are violating the clearly defined territory which the dog is entrusted with defending.

That'd explain why he doesn't bark at strangers in general (they aren't taking anything) and why he doesn't have a problem with mailmen when they're at other houses (not his territory).

[pantaz]

I agree with the "defending their territory" idea. He knows that every time that intruder enters his space, he barks, and succesfully chases away the intruder!

[Trebuchet]

One explanation I've seen is that every day the mailman comes up to the house but the master never speaks to him or lets him in. That means he's a threat, not a friend. I'm not sure how this applies to a blind dog who'd might have difficulty identifying the mailman, however.

[Gillianren]

One explanation I've seen is that every day the mailman comes up to the house but the master never speaks to him or lets him in. That means he's a threat, not a friend. I'm not sure how this applies to a blind dog who'd might have difficulty identifying the mailman, however.

Scent?

I had neighbours who had a Pomeranian which hated me. It was known to bark furiously at me through walls. Not either of the roommates I had during my stay there. Not any of the guests we had. Just me. About the only time it didn't yap at me was the last day I was there, when I was recovering from some serious psychological . . . overflow. Turns out my neighbours' son had been bipolar. As I recall, he'd killed himself only a few years earlier. They were very nice to me that day.

And "stereotype" is one word.

[sarongsong]

"And don't start a sentence with a conjunction."

[Fazor]

"And don't start a sentence with a conjunction."

I don't agree with that.

ETA: That particular statement, not the linked page.

[peteshimmon]

Some ten to fifteen years ago I would wheel
my bike along a country road and a black dog
on a lead outside a farmhouse would bark.
After a few years it would just regard me as
I passed. It would know my sound I expect and
knew I just passed by! Or the creature was
just getting older.

[Nicolas]

I had neighbours who had a Pomeranian which hated me. It was known to bark furiously at me through walls.

OMG wallhax! (for those who played Counter Strike)

But anyway, my stereo-type. It's brushed aluminum components, different brands put together, most of them 20 to 30 years old. Two channel "dual concentric" speaker system with added supertweeters. Rather high quality overall. Some tiny scratches, but working OK in general. I try to live up to my stereo-type.

[NickW]

That is when you bust out the aimbot and shoot the dog through the wall....

(and for the dog lovers out there, that was a joke)

[Sam5]

It's not opening the mailboxes that sets him off, as others go and get their mail and he doesn't let out a peep, (or a woof, if you prefer). And not only that, but the street my apartment is on is what's know as a "training route" for mailmen, so it's a different mailman every week to ten days.

So, do any dogologists out there have a clue as to what's up with him? Does he not like the leather mailbag? Is he keying in on the stamp glue?

Dogs like that learn who lives around there and who will not leave when he barks.

The mailman always leaves after he barks.

Therefore, he either thinks he's driving the mailman off, or he is pretending to.

[slang]

OMG wallhax! (for those who played Counter Strike)

Not counterstrike.. but.. how can you tell you're a counter strike addict?

Being unable to consummate your marriage because you fear the neighbors have a wallhack.


Our dog recognizes the sounds of our cars, not sure if it's engine sound or the particular way the door opening or closing sounds. Key-chains also seem to have a distinctive sound, to them. Mailmen might have similar audio cues that dogs might recognize. Curiously, our dog is pretty quiet when the mailman arrives, but he turns into a howling screaming banshee whenever someone approaches that he doesn't recognize. Perhaps in BD's case it's not the sound of a single mailbox being opened/closed, but the pattern of a street full with mailboxes.

[Nick Theodorakis]

My dog hates cats. Absolutely hates them. She has a strong prey drive (towards mammals, anyway, at least those larger than mice, but she's not much of a bird dog) but the site of cats releases something else within her that goes way beyond "get the squirrel!"

Nick

[Gillianren]

I don't agree with that.

And well you shouldn't!

Not starting a sentence with a conjunction is a rule that can be broken; it primarily exists to prevent people from starting a large number of sentences with conjunctions, as it usually makes for sloppy sentence-writing when people do. It's one of the grammatical rules which is, in fact, more like a guideline--know it's there, but know when to break it.

[Nick Theodorakis]

And well you shouldn't!

Not starting a sentence with a conjunction is a rule that can be broken; it primarily exists to prevent people from starting a large number of sentences with conjunctions, as it usually makes for sloppy sentence-writing when people do. It's one of the grammatical rules which is, in fact, more like a guideline--know it's there, but know when to break it.

Nearly every sentence in the first chapter of Genesis (in the King James version) starts with a preposition.

Nick

[sarongsong]

I don't agree with...that particular statement...

It is nicely formatted, though...

“Why do dogs hate mailmen?”

The answer lies in dog language. Body language more specifically, which is how dogs communicate. The mystery is solved once you understand how dogs think...
freedogtraininginfo.com

[novaderrik]

while we're on the topic of weird dog behavior- i have one for the crowd..
i used to have a female German Shepherd named Shadow. one time, i went to Fargo to visit one of my brothers for the weekend and dropped Shadow off at my mom's place so she could babysit her for the weekend. i left her at mom's farm on friday evening at about 7pm, and didn't come back until sunday at about 10pm. i didn't call my mom to tell her when i was going to be there.
anyways, Mom said that Shadow was pretty mellow the whole weekend- but about 5 minutes before i showed up to pick her up, she started getting all antsy and barking at the door. she had been let out to do her "business" about an hour before, so that wasn't it. when i came thru the door, she looked about as excited as i'd seen her in her 3.5 years of life.
my question is this: how could she have known i was getting close? this is the kind of thing that makes me believe that there must be something to all this esp stuff..

[Gillianren]

Nearly every sentence in the first chapter of Genesis (in the King James version) starts with a preposition.

In fact, there's nothing wrong with that. It can get repetitive, but sometimes, it's a good rhetorical device.

[mugaliens]

But... Oh, nevermind.

The dog might simply be smelling the mailman's many tagalong smells from all the other dogs in the neighborhood.

[Nicolas]

while we're on the topic of weird dog behavior- i have one for the crowd..
i used to have a female German Shepherd named Shadow. one time, i went to Fargo to visit one of my brothers for the weekend and dropped Shadow off at my mom's place so she could babysit her for the weekend. i left her at mom's farm on friday evening at about 7pm, and didn't come back until sunday at about 10pm. i didn't call my mom to tell her when i was going to be there.
anyways, Mom said that Shadow was pretty mellow the whole weekend- but about 5 minutes before i showed up to pick her up, she started getting all antsy and barking at the door. she had been let out to do her "business" about an hour before, so that wasn't it. when i came thru the door, she looked about as excited as i'd seen her in her 3.5 years of life.
my question is this: how could she have known i was getting close? this is the kind of thing that makes me believe that there must be something to all this esp stuff..

Does your car happen to be a land speed record type driven by a turbine? Anything else with way too many horse power that revs up beyond 20.000 rpm?

[Drunk Vegan]

In fact, there's nothing wrong with that. It can get repetitive, but sometimes, it's a good rhetorical device.

So... basically, your gripe is that starting sentences with repetitions may, in some cases, lead to repetitive prose?

How is that applicable to the format of short messages, such as web forums, etc?

Most web posts are not in fact stories so there is little danger of excessive prepositions distracting from the intent of the author.

[Fazor]

But... Oh, nevermind.

The dog might simply be smelling the mailman's many tagalong smells from all the other dogs in the neighborhood.

At the risk of being the person who steers a conversation back toward the topic, rather than away from it (which is so opposite of what I usually do that the universe might just implode) . . .

. . . Good point mugs. If I had to pick something I think sounds most reasonable, I'd go with your explanation.

[Sam5]

The dog might simply be smelling the mailman's many tagalong smells from all the other dogs in the neighborhood.

No. The dog is bored.

Dogs generally don’t have anything to do, but they have a natural tendency to want to chase certain things.

The mailman is something that comes along every day, stops and fiddles with their owner’s property (the mailbox), then they move on.

The dogs that bark at mailmen like to think they have done something important and have done a good job. These dogs always know that after they bark, the mailman will go away.

The dogs are showing off and are pretending to be doing something worthwhile.

It’s the same with some rural dogs who like to sit along a road and wait for a car to pass. When they finally see a car coming, they jump up and bark ferociously at either the car or one of its tires. Most cars continue traveling and they go away, as if being “frightened” away by all that barking.

This is very satisfying to some dogs.

If mailmen were allowed to carry pellet guns, and could shoot the dogs that bark at them, that would stop most of the dogs from barking at them.

Part of the enjoyment of barking at mailmen comes from the knowledge that the mailmen will never attack the dog and will always go away after all the barking.

[Fazor]

The mailman is something that comes along every day, stops and fiddles with their owner’s property (the mailbox), then they move on.

But BD stated that the dog is blind, and that others come along and also mess with the mailbox etc and the dog doesn't bark at them. So how does it know it's the mailman, and why does it only care if *he* comes up to the property, but not anyone else.

[Gillianren]

So... basically, your gripe is that starting sentences with repetitions may, in some cases, lead to repetitive prose?

Um, no. Starting sentences with prepositions is the issue under discussion, which is different.

How is that applicable to the format of short messages, such as web forums, etc?

Most web posts are not in fact stories so there is little danger of excessive prepositions distracting from the intent of the author.

Not all writing is web posts.

[Sam5]

It's my neighbors.


It's not opening the mailboxes that sets him off,

It is a big box with a group of individual mailboxes, at the street? Or individual mailboxes on the outside wall of the house? Or an old-fashioned post mailbox at the street?

Do the mailmen arrive in a vehicle, or do they always walk up from the same direction?

[sarongsong]

Starting sentences with prepositions is the issue under discussion...

No, the "issue under discussion" is:

Talk About Living Up To Your Stereo-Type!
It's my neighbors. Or more specifically their dog...

Remember?

[BigDon]

Sam, I live in an apartment complex and have one of those "gang mailboxs" in my courtyard. The dog suns himself on his owner's doorstep which is directly across from said mailboxes.

The dog is quite blind, and doesn't bark at anybody else who opens the mailbox.