German Postmen Learn Dog Psychology

The German post office has started giving mail workers lessons in canine psychology to reduce the number of dog attacks and bites.

And it seems to be working. Official say the number of dog attacks on postmen this Christmas were the lowest in 10 years after the lessons.

Deutsche Post spokeswoman Sylvia Blesing said: "The number of attacks is dropping, in some places by as much as half. The reduction began after we starting teaching our postal workers how dogs think. We tell them not to run away if they see a dog coming and how to react in a dangerous situation".

The German post office has sent around 80,000 of its postmen and women on the courses, first introduced in 2001, to learn how to psychoanalyse dogs and how to deal with them.

Postman Rolf Schulz from Berlin, who attended the course said: "It gave me a real insight into how dogs behave and what causes them to bite".

The courses include theoretical and practical advice on how to handle dogs with trained animal psychologists explaining why it is not possible to cycle faster than a dog and demonstrate how to hand the mail to a person who is walking their dog without being bitten.

Dog trainer Stefan Biegier, who teaches some of the courses, said: "We show the postmen dog expressions and teach them to watch for the danger signs. We also pass on tips like making sure the owners are aware of the time the mail will be delivered. German postmen are extremely punctual and if a person knows when their mail will be delivered they can make sure the dog is tied up or at least in doors out of the way".

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