It never fails: Im concentrating, reading or writing at my computer. Otto is snoozing on the floor or loveseat behind me. Time flows. The outside world fades from my consciousness. And then, from right behind me, WOW WOW WOW WOOF! As I pull myself off the ceiling, I realize that once again, and from a dead sleep, Otto heard a FedEx or UPS truck round the corner several doors down from my house. He just has to announce its imminent passage by our door or, even more outrageous, its stopping in front of our house, and the entry through the front gate, of that guy, the one who leaves packages on the porch.
Why oh why do dogs get so riled up about delivery trucks? And why cant Otto make the connection between the arrival of so many tasty treats and toys for him to try, and the nice people who deliver them? My only theory is that he does it because it works; the trucks leave very quickly when he barks. Of course, the trucks also leave very quickly when he doesnt bark, so maybe thats a bad theory. It must be the unpredictable entry of the stranger through the gate and THUMP of packages on the porch. Especially because he doesnt bark at the garbage truck, the water meter readers (they dont come in the gate, the meter is out under the sidewalk), or the local buses that pass by every hour or so and sound a lot like the delivery trucks (to me).
Otto used to wait for and bark at the postal delivery people, too, but since the folks who have our route started carrying dog treats, now they get the benefit of Ottos doubt. He wags his tail and whines, instead, when he hears the sound of the mail cart being pushed down the sidewalk. When the postal workers leave packages on the porch, they almost always detour off the porch and give Otto a cookie through the chain-link gate at the side of the house. They have to go out of their way to do it, yet they almost always do. And that once-in-a-while cookie has made all the difference.
If Im paying attention to the sounds of the outside world, and by some luck, I hear the truck before he does, I can say, Otto! to get his attention, and reach (or get up to go find) a treat. This completely forestalls the sudden loud WOOF!, although he still will look toward the door and make a soft growling noise in his throat as he crunches his cookie. The problem is, Im usually not paying attention to the sounds of the outside world. During FedEx and UPS delivery hours, Im usually working and deep in thought, completely vulnerable to the sudden WOOF! Hes a big dog, and has a BIG, deep voice, and I swear its shortening my life.
What sets off your dogs alarms? And what have you done about it?
I think it’s the deep roar of the engine. It sounds like an aggressive dog coming along and the rumble from the engine it feels when it does come by or is close by. Listen to the sound of the engine and i think it’s intimidating to a dog. It sounds like a big under the belly RRRRRR sound like another dog or enemy on the attack coming towards your dog.
This is exactly what Penny does now. She’s never aggressive toward the delivery people.
She was never a barking dog. The only thing she would bark was the doorbell.
Now she barks to Amazon vans most of all. Maybe she knows something we don’t know? I am not sure if it started after she grew a bit older (she’s 8 now) or because there are more and more delivery vans around now.
We have put a drop off box at the end of our driveway to keep FED ex and UPS from coming all the way up to the house and HIS yard. Yesterday, a substitute driver made the mistake of approaching the fence as Milo was barking very aggressively at him. he thought he could befriend him. First time ever Milo has snarled and tried to snap at someone. It makes me so sad that so many vendors won’t deliver to PO boxes anymore. I mean, WHY does ONE tube of watercolor at a time have to arrive on a truck at my back door??? So stupid. Anyway, the box at the gate is my new hope. We live in the country and due to covid and our rural address, I order a LOT through Amazon. It’s crazy how often the trucks have to come for stuff that could so easily go through the mail. Grrr. I’m perturbed, but not aggressive, lol.
Our dog is terrified of the Amazon trucks. If she is out walking with my husband, she sits down, shivers and won’t move. He’ll have to pick her up and carry her for a block or more. If she is indoors, they don’t bother her. My husband has speculated that the radio transmitter/gps unit in the truck may be the culprit.