My dog is a 70 pound golden doodle. He has not ever shown his teeth or growled or anything else. But if he got out and saw someone, he would haul toward that person to say hi because he wants to say hi to everyone. I've trained him extensively never to cross the threshold of the front door and he never once has gotten loose. But if he did, I would fully excuse anyone for being nervous and for using pepper spray. I'm a dog person, but I very much believe in being responsible for your dog.

BUT, things happen in life. Sometimes you can just use common sense. A weiner dog is physically unable to move quickly. It's just not possible. Sure, sometimes small dogs bite. Yes, it should be in it's yard. But if you are scared of a weiner dog, you can try walking across the street. If you are 400 pounds or it's the world's fastest weiner dog, sure, bust out the pepper spray.

And yeah, old dogs bite too. Sometimes more than young dogs. My dog got bit by an old lab (and the same old lab actually almost kid another puppy in our building).

It's hard to judge a situation we weren't eye witness to, but to me it sounds like this mailman is a low IQ individual who is unwilling to exercise common sense.