Overview
- Guidance asks households to wait ten minutes after delivery before allowing pets back into the hallway to reduce post‑delivery incidents.
- Owners are told to secure dogs out of the way before opening the door — for example in a back garden or distant room — and to avoid answering with a dog behind them.
- Tips include distracting pets with a toy or food and ensuring children do not open the door, as attacks can occur when signing for items.
- Royal Mail offers a downloadable window postcard to alert staff to wait while a dog is secured, and suggests wire letter receptacles or a secure edge‑of‑property mailbox when containment is impractical.
- The appeal follows warnings from Royal Mail’s health and safety lead that dog attacks are a major risk for postal workers, with the push timed for the pre‑Christmas surge in deliveries.