The Rockfish Post Office Dogs

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On my Visit to Schuyler, Virginia webpage, I described my visit to the Rockfish Post Office in 2001. The only ones to greet me there were a couple of dogs who barked and barked at me, not extending the slightest bit of Virginia hospitality. In 2007, a reader named Ken wrote to me describing a very different perspective of the Rockfish Post Office dogs. Read on:

Del,

Thanks for putting up the page about Schuyler! It's great! My first visit to Schuyler was in 1994 so I never got to see the original S&H store. It's nice to see a color picture of it.

However I must defend those dogs at the Rockfish Post Office! You've besmirched their reputation and I've come to think of them as personal friends! :-) I've visited Schuyler in 1995, 2000, 2002, 2005, Jan. of 2006, and maybe one or two other times when traveling through Virginia. I often travel in that part of the state -- those are the dates I can definitely remember stopping. I first encountered the dogs back in 1995. They barked a lot and that put me on guard at first. But they turned out to be quite friendly. In fact one of them, a big black dog, was SO friendly that this was the problem! It kept throwing it's front paws on me in it's quest to be petted and it was hard to walk around and look at the Post Office because it wanted constant attention! There was another dog which wasn't quite as friendly but still did not show any genuine hostility. All bark and no bite! You said they were snarling? Maybe you caught them on a day when they were in a bad mood? :-)

On a subsequent trip I was surprised to find the black dog still there. I gave it something to eat and, of course, it was thrilled with that. The last time I was there, a couple of years ago, the black dog was still around, though moving much more slowly than the first time I visited. She's obviously getting up in years. There was another, younger dog who was also helping to "guard" the station. They've obviously figured out that tourists frequently stop by and can be counted on for frequent pettings, food and attention so they just hang out there all day long. The dogs make an interesting contribution to the experience of Schuyler. It's strange to think of a dog sitting in the same place, year after year (not tied up or anything) a building or a landmark and expecting to see it on any particular day of any year that I, perchance, happen to drive through.

Thanks again for the great website!

Ken