The image of a dog furiously chasing a mailman is old, tired, clichéd – and based firmly on fact. The three groups of people most commonly bitten by dogs are children, the elderly, and postal employees, in that order.

So it’s not surprising that the U.S. Postal Service takes an active part in National Dog Bite Prevention Week. (It’s May 16th to 22nd this year.)

The Post Office has some tips for everyone on how to prevent dog bites.

If you think a dog is possibly about to attack you:

· Don’t run
· Don’t scream
· Don’t make eye contact
· Stay motionless and wait for the dog to go away
· If it’s about to attack, put something between it and you (feed it your backpack if you have to)

If you own a dog, here are some precautions you can take to keep it from biting people (especially postal employees):

· Take it to obedience training
· Have it spayed or neutered
· Keep it away from the door when a mail carrier comes
· Don’t let it see your child taking mail from a carrier – the dog might see this as a threat to the child

Dogs that get little attention, or spend lots of time tied up, often grow into biters. Dog owners need to be especially aware of this, but anyone who meets dogs while going about their lives needs to know it, too.

About 4.7 million Americans get bitten by dogs each year. The Post Office says that “most, if not all, dog bites are entirely preventable through training, proper control of dogs, and education.”

The Humane Society of the U.S. has further tips on avoiding dog bites, plus steps you can take if it does happen to you.