It’s a nice day and you are hanging with your dog waiting for the mail. The carrier hands you the mail and you notice that he is, well, smelling good. Not just good, but “hot” good. Do you:
a) Immediately call Canada Post and complain about the smell;
b) Wonder if the mail carrier is single; or
c) Think that the mail carrier is afraid of your dog?
If you chose c), you are correct! At a recent meeting in Vancouver with about 140 letter carriers, Dr. Stanley Coren told the carriers that dogs can smell their fear.
Coren says fear is like sweet perfume to aggressive dogs: “The worst possible thing is fear. It makes us do things which provoke dogs.”
When people are fearful around dogs, the tendency is to turn and run. Bad idea. It only serves to kick in the hunting instincts of the dog.
Instead, when a dog gets aggressive people should stand perfectly still, fold their arms and look at their feet to break eye contact, which will have the effect of calming an excited dog, Coren says.
Dr. Coren suggested that the mail carriers wear musk-scented cologne to mask the smell of fear. So, if you don’t have a dog, and your mail carrier is smelling good, well…
More here.
*from here.
Maybe you should try hanging out at the bars rather than dreaming about nice smelling mailmen. heh