Introducing Your Dog to Domestic Staff and Contractors

Why this matters here

In South African households a dog often meets more people at the gate than in the park: domestic workers, gardeners, contractors, meter readers, delivery drivers.

These are also the people most commonly bitten. Not because the dogs are vicious, but because the introduction never really happened and the dog is left to guess about a stranger inside its territory.

Doing the introduction properly

• Meet outside the gate first, on neutral ground, with the dog on lead
• Have the person ignore the dog entirely — no eye contact, no reaching, no greeting
• Let the dog approach and sniff in its own time
• Have the person drop treats on the ground rather than offering by hand
• Enter the property together rather than the person arriving into the dog’s space
• Repeat over several days before expecting the dog to be settled

Ask first whether the person is comfortable with dogs. Many people are genuinely afraid, and a frightened person moves in ways that worry a dog.

Never make the dog the employee’s problem

It is your responsibility to secure the dog, not the worker’s job to manage it. Expecting someone to let themselves in past a large unfamiliar dog is unfair and unsafe.

Provide a reliable way to secure the dog before anyone arrives, and use it. Being liable for an injury to someone working on your property is a serious matter.

Ongoing management

Have the person feed the dog or give a chew on arrival. Association does more than any amount of correction.

Never let a dog rush a gate or fence at an arriving person. That behaviour rehearses and worsens.

For contractors and once-off visitors, secure the dog rather than attempting an introduction. Not every stranger needs to become a friend.

Reading the dog honestly

Stiffening, a hard stare, a low growl, weight forward — these mean stop, not push on. Never punish a growl. It is the warning system, and removing it leaves you with a dog that bites without one.

If your dog is genuinely reactive to unfamiliar people, get help from a qualified behaviourist rather than hoping repetition sorts it out. In the meantime, manage with gates and separation.