Step Away From The Envelope

Saturday morning, I happened to stand up from the couch just in time to see a postman walk towards my house. In the spirit of being helpful and friendly (and to keep him from ringing the doorbell and sending the dogs into a frenzy), I opened the big door as he got near the front steps. He looked up and smiled, and put his foot on the first step. And then Reyna pushed the big door open a bit more, and smiled at the postman. The look on his face was priceless. His mouth dropped a bit, and he froze in midstep. And then Duncan nudged me over so that he could look out the door, too. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone move backwards that fast since the pizza guy that Natalie and I saw in Virginia. Neither dog actually barked, they both just looked at the postman, heads cocked, tongues hanging out. Since I figured he might bolt if I actually opened the storm door to step out, I just motioned for him to put the envelope on the steps. He really has quite impressive aim (and speed). He managed to get the envelope on the middle step from a good 10 feet away. Lucky for him, there was nothing breakable in that envelope. By the time I unlocked the storm door and stepped out, he was back in his truck by my mailbox, just staring at us.

Normally, I like to encourage people to meet the dogs, realize they’re friendly, and so on. I don’t like people thinking that German shepherds are mean. But I have to admit, part of me gets a warm and fuzzy feeling when my dogs inspire absolute terror in strangers by doing nothing more than smiling.