It might seem like one of the oldest clichés in the book, but for Canada Post letter carriers, it's no laughing matter.
"You see those dogs behind the fence and all you do is pray they'll never get out, because if they get out, you'll get bit," explains carrier Telena Newfeld.
Dog bites are a very real problem for Thompson's letter carriers, as every carrier has their own battle stories - if not an actual bite, then a near-miss.
"It's come very close," says Newfeld of her own experiences. "I've had my bags bit. You do get pretty freaked out afterwards."
Stacie Savary, manager of the Thompson post office as well as dozens of others across Northern Manitoba, has had her share of canine run-ins as well, including two bites that required trips to the hospital. "When I walked into the hospital with blood all over my pants and leg, and I needed to get stitches and a shot, the nurse looked at me and said 'that's so ironic,'" she says - laughing about it now, though she wasn't at the time.
According to Canada Post policies, carriers do not have to deliver mail to a house if they believe they will be in danger from a dog. "If the dog is out close to the mailbox and we don't know the dog, we are supposed to put the mail back in our bag, return it to the post office, and our supervisor then deals with the situation," explains Newfeld. "If your dog's anywhere near your mailbox, we're not supposed to take that chance."
"I can walk up to a dog without my uniform, and he'll be friendly with me," says Newfeld. "You put those bags on, and it's completely different. I've had dogs hit the window so hard you think it's going to crack."
Both Savary, who worked as a carrier before taking her current job in 2009, and Newfeld are quick to point out that not all dogs pose problems for carriers, with many being perfectly nice and friendly. Newfeld also says that she understands why a dog would be distrustful of her. "It's not that they're out to get us," she says. "They're only protecting their territory."
"A lot of dogs go into defence mode when their owner's not around," adds Savary. "They become more aggressive and more defensive towards the property."
Still, dogs are a major issue for mail carriers, with Savary estimating that she learns of major dog-related incidents about twice a month. Entire streets have been cut off from mail delivery if the concern over a dog was great enough, and one carrier was bit twice in the same week.
Newfeld finds herself at a disadvantage even compared to her co-workers, as she is a relief letter carrier - her route changes every day based on which regular carriers are unavailable. "If you're on a route every day, you know where the dogs are," she explains. "The next carrier who comes along might not know him, and how does she know if he's friendly or not?"
"I was walking up to a mailbox, and this was a dog that I'd known for a while," Newfeld says, telling the story of her closest call. "I knew he could kind of reach me, but not close enough. I walked up to deliver to the mailbox, and he lunged and grabbed my bag and pulled it in. We'd never had any aggressive behaviour from that dog prior to this."
"If he's close enough to get my bag - my knee is right next to my bag," she continues. "It's scary. After that, a leaf blows by and you're trying to figure out what's coming after you." After the incident, Newfeld did talk to the dog's owner, and the leash was shortened to prevent it from happening again.
Newfeld has spent two years as a carrier in Thompson - before that, she was in Dauphin, where she says there were fewer dogs, and the ones that were there were also less aggressive. Another dog in Thompson managed to steal one of her cleats one time, forcing her to chase the dog to get her shoe back.
"Keep them on a leash, away from the mailbox," suggests Savary of the best way to keep dogs from attacking letter carriers. "Keep them in a fence. Keep the fence maintained. I don't want to tell people they have to keep their dogs inside, I really don't. Dogs need to be able to run around and whatever, but we need to be able to deliver your mail safely."
Dogs aren't the only things which cause the occasional headache for letter carriers - garden hoses, rakes, toys, bikes, electrical cords, anything left in the path to the mailbox is a potential danger, especially in winter when the carriers are wearing heavy clothing. "We have no peripheral vision, and I don't know how many times I get caught by that one little cord that just comes up," says Newfeld.
Snow is another problem. "I understand people can't get to it right away on a snowy day, and I will try my best to get around it, but by the next day, just a path - I don't need your whole driveway, I need just a tiny amount to get up," says Newfeld. "I do have some people who will be out several times a day snowblowing - it's not like I ask for that, but we do appreciate the extra effort."
"We don't want to just sound like we're complaining," says Savary. "We do appreciate what people do for us."
