Royal Mail is suggesting dog owners may want to display a clear sign on their doors or windows. The advice comes after more than 2,000 of its postal workers were attacked by dogs in the last year alone.
Some posties have been left with life-changing injuries, and Royal Mail is appealing directly to owners to "please help us protect your postie". And if your dog is running loose outside your premises, it says, your mail can be "suspended".
Dog owners are also being urged to ensure they "never open the door to a postie when your dog is not secured away". It's also a good idea for such households to consider letter cages or outside postboxes, to avoid bites through the letterbox.
Kirsteen Hobson, who has worked as a postwoman for 10 years, fell victim to a ferocious dog attack resulting in considerable injuries to her face. Recounting her ordeal, Kirsteen said: "The gentleman I was delivering to was standing, kind of half hanging, outside his door.
"I got about two thirds of the way and next thing I know there's a dog on my face and it ripped my lip off. I didn't see the dog come at me, my first view of the dog was when it was attached to my face ... Somehow I managed to get the dog off me, and then it lunged at my face again, biting me under the eye and on my forehead.
"I somehow got the dog off me again and I turned around to get away from it, and it sunk its teeth into my leg, into my thigh". She said the traumatic experience continues to impact "every aspect of my life".
Kirsteen continued: "It's not something that I'd like anyone else to experience, which is why I wanted to share this so it hopefully doesn't happen [again], it can be prevented." The Royal Mail website offers a downloadable postcard that people can print out and display in their door or window.
Royal Mail explained: "This lets anyone delivering to your property know that you have a dog and asks them to wait whilst you secure your dog before opening the door."