The Doggie and The Mailman

There's something about the sound of the postal carrier stuffing letters into our mail slot that turns my gentle cockapoo into a yapping maniac.

Six days a week the same scene plays out: thud-thud of footsteps (she races to the front door), rattle-rattle as the mail slot opens (she barks once, twice), rustle-rustle-thunk as the mails falls (woof, Woof WOOF, WOOF, WOOF.)

She only sounds ferocious. If someone came through the door, she'd high-tail it to her crate.

But I know from personal experience that not all dogs are so benign. You couldn't pay me enough to walk up to strange dogs' houses in a blue uniform.

That's because my puppy and I were attacked by a pit bull as we sauntered through our neighborhood three years ago. It came out of nowhere and struck like a guided missile. Both of us suffered bites. Both of us still fear strange dogs.

So I sympathized when the mailman left a brochure announcing National Dog Bite Prevention Week. It said that 3,000 letter carriers were bitten by dogs in 2007.

I read the brochure's tips about what to do when a dog is about to attack: stand like a statue, don't scream, avoid eye contact with the dog, back away when it loses interest.

That might work with some dogs. Pit bulls don't lose interest. Almost one in five dangerous dog citations and warnings are for pit bulls in Seattle.

If I were Mr. Mayor, I'd ban the breed, as Denver has done.

Don't agree? Bite me.