12 yr old Blue dog just bit the water meter guy...Update

[cmjust0]

Just my opinion, but...

Utility companies should make it a policy that none of their employees enter an enclosure where there's a dog. Period. The meter people should leave a boilerplate note on the front door, turn, and go the other way. The note should tell the homeowner to call the utility and reschedule the meter reading, and there should be a service charge on the next bill for them having to come back out.

The reason for the service charge is that if you hit people in the pocketbook for leaving their dogs outside when the meter reader shows up, they'll have incentive to be more proactive about making sure their pets are secured. Also, if the meter reader says "Meh, this dog looks nice enough," goes on in, and gets bitten...bam...he's in violation of his own company's policy, which gives the homeowner a leg to stand on as they had reasonable expectation that the meter reader wouldn't enter if they happened to have forgetten and left their dog out.

Nobody gets bitten.. Nobody gets sued.. No animals get destroyed.. Worst case scenario is that someone consistently leaves their dog out -- which truly is a hazard to the meter reader, the dog, the homeowner...everyone involved -- and racks up a bunch of service charges before finally coming to grips with the fact that they simply must put Meatball in the house on the morning of the 23rd of every month or whatever.

I just don't think this sort of thing has to happen.. There are ways to avoid it.

 

[horsejody]

Where I grew up, many meters were in the cellars of the houses. My mother used to tell the meter reader to never, never, never come into the house when we weren't home because of the dogs, particularly the Great Dane. The GD hated strange men and was perfectly capable of chewing an intruder to pieces. The meter reader decided to ignore the warnings. The front door was never locked. He came into the house while we were gone. He came in and went into the basement without the dogs noticing him. However, once they realized he was down there there was no escape. We came home to find the basement door tore up to the point that the dane could almost get through, and there was a crying meter reader perched on top of the furnace thinking that he was about to be killed.

 

[phoenixmama]

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I like it.

 

[rooster0209]

The age of your dog may have something to do with the odd change in behavior toward the meter guy. How is your dogs hearing? Just thinking he may have woken up a "little hard of hearing dog" and scared the dog, which got him nipped last time. The dog remembered and bit him this time.

Good luck with your dog and the meter guy.

 

[cafarmgirl]

While it's true that it's not the responsibility of the meter reader, UPS delivery person, whoever, to carry dog biscuits around, the smart ones do it anyway. I have a heeler mix who barks at anybody who drives in. We are rural and she lets me know someone is around. My UPS driver jumps out of his truck, tosses her a biscuit, drops off the box and is on his way. They get along fine. However, I have a Rottweiler in the back yard and NOBODY is allowed back there without me, EVER. The gates are also locked and service people must let me know the day before they plan to visit.

 

[thebritt]

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Sorry, but

may not be the appropriate response, but....

 

[thebritt]

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I think that's the next plan of action. And yea, 3 month old puppies are TERRIFYING! Seems to me that, if you're going to have a job that involves going into people's yards, you should have some tolerance/training in dealing w/dogs

.

 

[thebritt]

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Yea, his hearing isn't what it used to be, but we have a total of 6 dogs, 4 of which are outside during the day. I would think he heard the others alerting to the intruder. Funny that he's not threatened by the GP. I know he barks like crazy, but he may be a bit more cautious to actually confront the guy. Wish I had a closed-circuit camera to see what's really going on!

 

[thebritt]

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We had a gas meter woman that would throw a handful of milkbones onto the ground when she came in, and speak in a friendly voice. The dogs LOVED seeing her (she could've robbed us w/no problem!).

 

[chicks4kids]

My mother used to just call it in. She had a dog that would let NOBODY near the house....everyone knew it, and they didn't mind having her call in the meter numbers. Maybe that should be what you should do. I don't believe that "coming around this time every month" would be good enough for me....if there isn't a set date for the meter man to come, that doesn't sound like your fault.

If the dog was a concern of his, he should have addressed the issue with the very first incident he had with your dog....if he truly had one. Who knows....he may just be saying it. I can't imagine a grown man coming on the property again after being bitten and not mentioning it.