Round 2? Bring it on!

I had a run in with the most stupid UPS guy I have ever seen yesterday. I saw the truck pull up and the dogs started barking. I went to answer the back door and the dogs went running out barking all the way. They ran right past the guy, but the guy turned around and started waving his little machine while yelling at them (they were not even near him when he started doing this, they were probably 20 feet away) and they went right up to him barking and jumping at him. They did not jump on him, only around him. The guy continued yelling and waving his machine at Cledus and was kicking at Sox! I was yelling at him to stop waving the machine because it was getting Cledus worked up (where he wasn't before) and the guy wouldn't stop. He instead started yelling at me that my dogs were attacking him (when they weren't...they hadn't touched him) while I was yelling at him to stop waving the damn machine. Cledus then knocked him over! The machine went flying! Cledus got what he wanted though and went up and sniffed the guy and went on his way. The guy stood up and I told him that Cledus was not attacking him, that the dog hadn't even touched him. Cledus was feeling threatened by the machine and wanted him to stop, and that was why he knocked him over. I also told him Cledus has never bit or attacked any one before. The guy said he really thought the dog was going to and that was why he started waving the machine, to keep him away. What? You don't do that! About this time Cledus came trotting up to me to make sure he did the right thing, and the guy started waving the machine again, yelling at Cledus to get back! I started yelling at him again to please put the thing down because now Cledus was ready to go (he was waiting for me to tell him it was ok). The guy finally put it down again and Cledus went up and sniffed him and then went and peed on his truck! The guy was ok, he said Cledus didn't bite or scratch him and he didn't want to file a report. He also asked that the next time we are expecting a delivery that we not have the dogs out and don't answer the door if we can't keep them inside. Understandable, and I told him that wouldn't be a problem. To make one thing clear, this is apparently a new driver. Cledus loved the other guy, and they would even play. But that guy had never threatened Cledus before. I have a feeling that as long as this guy delivers here we will have a problem.

The reason why I say this was the most stupid driver I have ever seen is because he did everything wrong. I was raised around dogs (bigger than Cledus) and was always taught that when you feel threatened by or are afraid of a dog you never call attention to yourself by waving things around, yelling, or running. Instead you back away slowly or stand still and never let the dog see that you are afraid. James said that if Cledus would have bit the guy that we would be making a complaint to UPS because the guy was threatening and intimidating our dog, causing him to go on the defense. James also said that the reason why Cledus just sniffed and went on after round 1 was because the machine was not in the guys hands any more, so there was no threat. That Cledus wasn't worried about the guy, just the thing he was waving.

This was Cledus trying to explain things to me afterward. I ended up being late to my interview but they were understanding. I took this picture while I was trying to calm down and make sure my new camera was ok because it also took a fall at one point.