“My dog doesn’t bite.”

No matter how many times a home owner tells this to mail carriers, it’s no solace when a dog attacks a carrier.

“We’re told that thousands of times a year, but it always seems like we get attacked by a dog that bites,” carrier Ruben Perez said.

This National Dog Bite Prevention Week, postal carriers are working to get the word out.

“It’s a big issue,” said mail carrier Troy Nelson.

Last year, there were about 5,600 dog bites nationwide. In Austin, there were about four or five incidents, according to Connie Kirama, officer in charge at the post office.

“That’s a lot,” she said.

Houston topped all cities in dog attacks against mail carriers with 62. Minneapolis was seventh with 35. St. Paul ranked 25th with 12.

According to Nelson, animals’ behavior is uncertain, especially when the weather is hot or children are home when there’s a stranger on their property.

“You cannot predict an animal’s behavior,” Nelson said.

Carriers warned they’re not the only ones at risk for dog attacks. Children, utility workers and pedestrians are also targets for attacks.

Animal control will come this week to teach mail carriers ways to prevent dog attacks. Mail carriers already employ many techniques. They carry a dog spray similar to pepper spray that also dispels an orange dye. Then if a carrier is bit, Animal Control can ensure the dog has its rabies shots.

Carriers also have standard letters they give to homeowners with dogs, and they’ll place stickers inside mailboxes to warn an aggressive dog is a few house down.

Carrier Mike Stackenwalt, who does five routes in southwest Austin, was bitten twice.

The first time, a small dog was hiding under a car and bit him in the back of the leg.

“Small dogs are the worst,” he said. “You don’t see them.”

The second time, he was taking a package inside a home and a black lab grabbed his finger. Both incident were minor bites.

While small dog are no picnic, many carrier argue pitbulls are the

“Pitbulls are the worst dogs out there for mailmen,” he said.

Stackenwalt said he now knows the dogs on his routes, so he knows which ones he needs to stay away from.

Perez carries mail all across town on multiple routes, so he doesn’t know where dogs are or which dogs are aggressive.

Perez was attacked by a pitbull last year. While he wasn’t bitten, the dog bit his bag and pushed him back until he fell over a snow bank into the street.

“I didn’t have a chance to see if there were cars or anything,” Perez said.

The simple solution to dog attacks is for all owners to ensure their pets are on a leash when they’re outside. Owners should not turn their backs on dogs when they let them outside.

While some people say carriers overreact, Perez said dogs are a consistent problem.

“There’s not one week where I don’t at least have an incident where I don’t deliver mail to a House because of a dog  or I … have to put my bag in front of a dog,” Perez said. “It’s not a rare thing anymore. It’s actually happens quite often.”