We first made the discovery one
morning when Elizabeth was, unusually, home alone during the day. The mailman
came and left our mail in the letterbox at the side of the house. Elizabeth was
in the kitchen and opened the door to retrieve the mail. As she reached for the
mail Beau was out of the house like a rocket in pursuit of the mailman. The mailman claimed later that Beau attacked
and bit him. No evidence of biting was
evident, but there could be no denial that Beau had pursued the mailman
somewhat aggressively.
The postman filed his complaint and
Canada Post sent an official to investigate. Barbara, our neighbour, testified
that there was no way that Beau could have attacked the postman – he was too
nice a dog to do that. He talked to
Elizabeth and went into the backyard to interview the suspect. Beau lay there serene, as the official talked
to him and rubbed him. It was the
perfect life as far as Beau was concerned.
The official observed to Elizabeth that it seemed difficult to believe
that Beau could be vicious.
No sooner were the words out of his
mouth than the mailman arrived. Beau was
off like a shot – teeth bared and growling.
The chain holding him grew taut as he pulled to get loose and show that
postman once and for all that he was not welcome on our turf. Needless to say, the Canada Post official was
a little bit less certain that Beau was innocent in the case before him.
We never did figure it out. Beau was not by nature vicious or aggressive,
but he sure went nuts with postmen.
Twice after he moved to Montreal he went after postmen. In fact, Elizabeth finally received a notice
from Canada Post that if he were to attack another postman it would be
necessary to have him put down.
My theory was that the postman must
have threatened the dog to provoke such fear.
I could not help but notice a peculiar phenomenon one morning when I was
at home. The persistent barking of a dog in the distance interrupted the
silence of the usually tranquil neighbourhood.
Other dogs joined the chorus progressively and finally Beau also became
part of the chorus as the postman arrived outside our door. As the postman continued on his way quiet gradually
returned to the neighbourhood as dogs dropped out of the barking chorus. Was there communication in the canine
community to warn of the malevolent postman on his rounds?
The facts were never clearly
established but we were certain that Beau was innocent. Could the postman’s be at fault? One of life’s unsolved mysteries.
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