Pixie was the mailman's dog. He didn't own her, but she chose him as her favorite person. Every morning when he went out to his mail route she would be waiting for him by his mail storage box. There was a bench there, and she would sit under the bench and wait.
He really couldn't chase her off, so he just let her follow along as he delivered the mail. He delivered on foot, carrying the mail in a leather bag on his shoulder. His route was in a very hilly, steep area, so he would deliver mail downhill and then ride the bus back up to the top to get more mail out of his storage box. He did this several times each day.
When Pixie first started following him she would get left behind each time he got on the bus. The bus driver saw her in his rear view mirror, running up the hill behind the bus. He felt sorry for her, so he said she could ride on the bus if the mailman would put her in his mailbag. She rode nicely, sitting up in the bag with her little front paws over the edge. And she got much attention from the passengers on the bus.
Lunchtime was fun too. The mailman ate lunch at the fire station and played chess with the firemen. Pixie had good manners and would just sit up and wait quietly by his side the whole time. So he bought milk bones for her so she could have some lunch too.
Pixie had her problems in bad weather. She was an Aberdeen Terrier, and because her legs were quite short, when it snowed the snow would cling to the fur on her belly in a big lump and she would get so she couldn't walk because of it. So the mailman took her all the way home because he felt sorry for her. But as soon as she thawed out and could sneak out the door, she would hunt him down and be right back out there with him. She was very loyal to him.
She was actually a good help for him many times. A lot of the home owners had watch dogs, and Pixie would distract the other dogs long enough that the mailman could deliver the mail and go on to the next house without worrying about a dog chasing him or trying to bite him.
Pixie became newsworthy when a reporter for the Oregon Journal became aware of her relationship with the mailman. The Journal printed several pictures and a large article about her in one of their Sunday papers, and then there were two more articles after that.
After a few years of this wonderful relationship, the mailman was promoted in his work and moved to a mail route in the downtown area. This was good for him because he would be inside office buildings and wouldn't have to be out in the weather anymore. But for Pixie it was a very sad day..... She had lost her very best friend.
© 2006 Arlene Schwartzkopf