It’s not too often you hear about mailmen enjoying the dogs they encounter on their routes. It’s often a terrifying experience for them. But there is hope that dogs and mailmen CAN really be friends.
Chris Cimino adopted Gretchen, a German shepherd, back in 2013, and it took awhile for her to warm up to the family. But when she did, she was the perfect dog… just so sweet. However, she sure didn’t care about anyone else outside the home. And that was pretty evident. All the snarling and barking told the tale. And that included the mailman.
But mailman Fernando Barboza was a little different; he wanted to make friends with ALL the canines on his route, and that certainly included Gretchen.
Now at first, Gretchen didn’t like Fernando at all. After all, he was NOT a family member. How could she trust him? So she snarled and let him know that his presence was not welcome.
But Fernando was not about to let that stop him from trying to get on Gretchen’s good side. He started bringing her treats whenever he delivered mail to the house. And he always made sure to call out her name so she could get familiar with that. And, eventually, things started working in the mailman’s favor. Even if he did not deliver any mail to the house, he would drive by and call out for Gretchen. And she would walk to the door and look out.
After a while, when it was about time for the mail to be delivered, Gretchen would walk over to the front door and start scanning the street, just waiting for that mailman to come by. And then, Gretchen began looking forward to seeing Fernando, as he continued to give her treats, and their friendship grew.
But after a few years of that great friendship, Gretchen passed away. Well, her owner, Chris, just couldn’t bring himself to face Fernando and tell him about it. Instead, he left him a note in the mailbox. And with that note was a bag full of dog treats.
The note read: “Gretchen passed away yesterday. She asked me to ask you if you would share her treats that she never got to finish with the other dogs on your route. She always enjoyed seeing you come to the door and was always happy to get a snack from you.”
A few days later, Fernando posted a tribute to Gretchen on his Facebook page. It read: “Found out that one of my buddies on my route passed away…Gretchen was a huge German shepherd but she was a huge teddy bear, I’m gonna miss her. I’ve been giving out her treats to the dogs on my route every day. And when I do, I always say, ‘This is from Gretchen.’”
