When I was a kid my first job was a paper route. I was 13 years old, in middle school, and waking up at 4 A.M. every morning simply to deliver the news. The gig was a tough one. Turns out, winter mornings in Wisconsin are pretty darn chilly. Though I left that job behind a decade ago, I still remember a very certain house towards the end of the route. Why? Because of the dog that lived there. Don’t get me wrong—the dog was rarely outside when I showed up with my newspaper, he was inside, and yet, he could somehow sense me approaching. And smell my fear. When I neared the porch to drop the paper off, I could hear him scuffling near the door and growling from under it. Though clearly overtly aggressive, there was no “Beware of Dog” sign in sight. I knew the dog would be there every day and I was still scared. Can you imagine how nervous random passerby might be when they walked by that house during the day? And still—no beware of dog sign.
Look folks, dogs are amazing pets. I don’t have to list the reasons for that. But some dogs are simply more aggressive than other others. In most cases a simple “Beware of Dog” sign goes a very, very long way. It allows random passerby and unfortunate paperboys a warning about your loving, if aggressive, friend; and (our signs) look great in the process.