What Paw Stickers Mean And Why Texas Postal Workers Are Jumpy

If you see a "paw sticker" on your mailbox, you should absolutely leave it alone.

Over 5,300 postal workers across the United States of America were bitten by dogs as they delivered mail to homes last year. Texas had the second highest number of bites.  (California was first.)

To try and lower that number in 2023, the United States Postal Service has created "National Dog Bite Awareness Week."

Along with the designated week, the USPS is also putting a "sticker system" into place throughout the United States of America.

To Combat this issue, USPS is implementing a Dog Paw program to raise awareness for our Letter Carriers and customers on the risk of dog bites throughout their workday. The program involves using color coded stickers to indicate both the home of a dog as well as the house before a dog’s home, to better prepare the Letter Carrier as they approach the mailbox. An orange sticker tells carriers that there is a dog at this home and the yellow cautions the carrier that there is a dog at the next house. - usps.com

The USPS advises people who get "door service" to put Fido in another room before opening the door for the mail carrier. Many dogs are capable of pushing doors open and/or jerking loose of their human.

They also advise against letting children take the mail as dogs can be very protective of kids. You can sign up for "Informed Delivery" which lets you know when packages are being delivered so you can have your dog secured ahead of time.

Those with animals considered a threat can have their mail held at the post office for them to pick up themselves.