Restrangled....I know you love your dogs...and they are a protection, but letting them out to run someone off when you can say no and shut your door is terrible. I still have traumatization from dogs in field service. It is very hard for me to control my fear.
To set one on a teenager who is not threatening you is shameful. You may be annoyed, but how does he know you subscribe? Evidently the newpaper is to blame for not giving him a list to work off of. As far as his pants...yeah I find that annoying too. But a simple "I already subscribe, and you might want to pull your pants up to be more professional." would have been enough as you closed the door. You could then call the paper and complain about their lack of informing their sales rep and sending them out in unbusiness like attire, threatening to cancel your subscription if it bothered you that badly.
As for my experience, I hate salesmen too. I had a sketchy one in our neighborhood, and I reported him to the police. They came and took a statement and said they had talked to them a few days ago. They handled the problem for me. The meat salesman, I tried their product and it didn't work out for us that well. The next time, I opened the door before they got on the steps and told them "No thank you. I tried it before and it didn't work for us." They thanked me and left.
You could always say, "Don't waste your time. I'm not buying." Just don't take it as an affront to you personally. These are real people with real problems who are trying in an economy that has sent many to the poor house. Though they are as annoying as flies.
For tellmarketers...caller ID. Register it on the Do Not Call list, or answer, tell them you're not interested and hang up. That's what my dad did. Have you ever listened to Tom Mabe? He pulls a joke on telemarketers everytime they call and then sells the CD's of the conversations! They are hilarious! You could try that if you are bored one day when they call!
Please just reconsider letting the dogs out to scare someone. If your dog should get aggresive, you would be slapped with a lawsuit and may be forced to put your pet to sleep. It's a dangerous and mean game to play when you aren't being threatened.
