POSTIES delivering mail and parcels across Newcastle and Lake Macquarie have had run-ins with dogs almost weekly for the past six months.
Australia Post issued a public plea for pet owners to secure their pooches amid "serious safety concerns" for posties.
Australia Post data has revealed more than 55 posties across Australia have fallen victim to dog-related incidents every week for the past six months.
Of the 408 incidents reported across NSW, 14 were in the Newcastle City Council local government area.
There were five in the Lake Macquarie City Council area.
A total of 19 incidents reported in six months across the two locations meant they occurred, on average, more than three times per month.
The locations with the highest numbers of attacks in NSW were Ingleburn, Tamworth and Lidcombe.
The Lake Macquarie local government area had the second largest number of registered dogs compared to any other in the state between January and March, Office of Local Government (OLG) statistics show.
There were almost 104,000 registered dogs living at Lake Macquarie in that time, second only to the Central Coast.
In those four months, there were 16 attacks on humans and other animals, according to the OLG data.
In the Newcastle City Council area in that time, 63,241 dogs were living there and eight attacks on people and other animals were reported.
According to the Australia Post data, posties in Queensland had the most trouble with dogs in the past six months, with 466 incidents reported in the state from 1420 across Australia.
Half of all incidents reported across Australia took place on a customer's property, while one in three occurred at their front doors.
About 34 per cent of cases happened on the street, eight per cent were dogs with their owners, and 26 per cent involved a dog that escaped or was out roaming.
Posties have increasingly seen smaller dogs show more aggressive behaviours, according to Australia Post.
General manager of safety and wellbeing Rod Maule said it was important for posties to feel protected at work.
"Australia Post is calling on dog owners to take responsibility for their pets," he said.
"Customers must understand that for many posties, it can be stressful or triggering knowing that your delivery round may involve a dog that shows aggressive behaviour.
"Our team members just want to be able to deliver for our customers, without being attacked, harassed, or chased by dogs."
Regardless of their pets' breed or temperament, owners were urged to secure their dogs safely in a backyard, on a leash, or inside in another room when expecting deliveries.
Posties will not deliver if it is unsafe for them, and will stop delivering to an address altogether until it is no longer dangerous.
Australia Post reports dog-related incidents to local councils, like Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, to ensure enforcement was undertaken.
