Oh and another thought, I would put a lock on your gate, so no unwanted visitors can wander in.

Mine says, "Beware dogs running free", I chose beware rather than warning e.t.c. as it's more to say, 'just be careful you don't let them out' rather than 'these dogs will have your hand off if you come in' - which the latter can kick up all sorts of fuss! Just to be aware that there are dogs running free behind the fence. If I am out then the dogs are inside anyway so if a courier needs to leave a parcel round the back when I am out it doesn't matter as the dogs are inside anyway and if I am in and the dogs are out the back, then there is absolutely no need for a stranger to go round the back anyway!

I got the sign because in my old place my back gate was right next to my front door and joined straight onto the garden and everyone would put things in there, deliveries who wouldn't bother knocking on the door first, just put it behind the gate, telephone directories, yellow pages and I just got sick of it as it was just lazyness, easier to do that than knock on the door!

Thanks guys.... we're going to see if we can find something without "warning" on it, just in case.

Unfortunately, we can't fence off the garden from the gate, as the dogs wouldn't be able to get into the house. Our back door is at the side of the house, with a small patio area and then the main garden.

Visitors can get to the front door with no problems, and we've always stressed that parcels etc should be left with next door, rather than going through the gate.

Got to react to this as I know the layout of Iso's garden.
The front door is totally accessible to anyone without using the back garden - which is where the dogs were.

The postman posts the letters through the front door with no problems - not getting anywhere near the dogs.

Sometimes the case arises where it's evident somebody is in...windows open, car on the drive etc and knocking on the front door gets no reaction. If it's a nice day, alot of people are pottering around in their garden so I always used to try there as well. Better that than taking their parcel away i'm sure so sometimes, it is necessary to venture into back gardens (from a couriers point of view).

In that case lock the back gate seems simplest and should solve the problem.

I really sympathise with anyone having a protective dog (one of mine is just the same) but we have a responsibility to keep them safe and in this world of litigation stopping a problem before it can happen is the best way forward.