Why does my dog bark at the postman?

It’s a function dogs perform that can be almost as good as an alarm clock really. Each morning, at a time determined by his route, the postman will visit, and in many doggy homes, this is followed almost immediately by a loud and frenzied session of barking. It may be a cliche, but many dogs do it, and in this post, and in the video below, we’ll try and explain why your dog hates the postman.

Enemy at the gates

While we may see our Poodles as precious, and our Dachshunds as delightful, they see themselves as our fierce and noble protectors. They would do anything to keep us safe and maintaining the boundaries of our territory is a key aspect of their duties. And yet, every day, this strange man, clatters open the front gate, has the nerve to knock at the door and the gall to push those menacing envelopes through the strange noisy little door within a door. That’s how many dogs see it anyway.

Barking at the postman is their way of protecting us and scaring off the intruder who, for all our dogs know, is here to do us harm (and not just drop off two leaflets and a gas bill). Dogs have been performing this function for their humans since their earliest days as our companions, and their territorial nature goes back even further to when they were wolves. We don’t think this is likely to change any time soon.

In this short video from our head vet, Sean McCormack, he’ll confirm all of that for us. And we’d like to say to all of our posties that we know you’re doing a great job, but you’ll just have to forgive our dogs for keeping us safe.