WINNIPEG (CBC) - Canada Post is once more asking homeowners to make sure their pets are properly restrained, after dogs bit four Winnipeg-area letter carriers in the past two weeks.

John Russell, a 15-year Canada Post veteran whose route is in the Fort Rouge neighbourhood, was attacked last Wednesday as he entered a yard.

A German shepherd came around a corner through a side gate that had been left open, Russell said.

"It was pretty quick," he said. "I just put my forearm out to basically protect myself. I didn't have the pepper spray on me, which was my own fault. I sustained several punctures, two of which were very deep."

His left arm didn't stop bleeding for four hours, he added.

Russell needed irrigation, a tetanus shot, antibiotics and adhesive skin closures to treat the wound, and his arm is still sore.

The dog's owner decided to destroy the animal because of the attack.

Three other letter carriers have suffered nips to their mailbags and legs in recent days, leading Canada Post spokeswoman Kathi Neil to remind homeowners it's up to them to make sure their property is safe by:

- Keeping dogs inside and restrained.

- Making sure they are tied up if left outside, out of reach of the mail carrier.

- Moving the home's mailbox outside of the yard where an animal is kept.

"We have had four bites within two weeks, so we are quite concerned," Neil said.

Her reminder comes less than two months after Canada Post launched a national campaign to warn homeowners about the danger their dogs can pose to postal workers.

The agency says that nationally, an average of 500 workers a year will suffer animal bites.

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