The owners of a private house noticed unusual behavior in their dog. The animal, usually calm and friendly, showed pronounced aggression exclusively toward the mail carrier. Every day at the same time, the pet would bark loudly, rush toward the fence, and display clear signs of anxiety at the sight of the postman, while remaining quite tolerant of other visitors.
Initially, the owners attributed this behavior to territorial instincts. Standard correction methods were tried: the animal was distracted with commands and taken inside during mail delivery. However, the intensity of the reaction did not decrease, and the postman himself behaved completely normally and did not provoke the dog in any way.
The situation became clear by chance when a neighbor shared an interesting detail about the mail carrier. It turned out that he had been working part-time at a local animal shelter for many years and came to work directly after his morning shift there, where he cared for stray animals. His clothes and bag inevitably absorbed the smells of the shelter—dozens of different dogs, cats, and disinfectants.
Veterinarians explained that a dog’s sense of smell is thousands of times more sensitive than that of humans. To the pet, the postman “smelled” like a gathering of unfamiliar animals, which could be perceived as a potential threat to its territory. This explained the selective reaction—other visitors did not carry such a complex foreign odor.
After this discovery, the owners adjusted their approach to socializing the pet. They began conducting short positive training sessions using items specially brought from the shelter, gradually reducing the dog’s anxiety. The situation clearly demonstrates that behind the seeming irrationality of animal behavior, there are often physical factors unnoticed by humans.
