Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Post office gets a mascot, Suzy gets a government job

Normally, mans best friend is a mailmans worst enemy.

Most carriers have either been a victim of or have heard horror stories about vicious dogs that dash away from their own territory to gnaw on a carriers Achilles tendon.

But in Gurdon, a dog named Suzy prefers to zip away from her territory simply to share the mailmans daily hike.

Suzy, a schnauzer that belongs to Earl and Floreda Briscoe, has made herself the mascot of the post office. She has also made herself a best friend, carrier Robert Ross.

Every morning when the Briscoes let Suzy out for her morning exercise, she immediately finds her way to the back dock of the post office to join Ross on his route.

But Suzy hasnt always been the happy-go-lucky pup the carriers know her as.

Earl and his grandson, Jujuan Marks, were out hunting two years ago when they found a scruffy dog they thought was a mongrel. The dog, later to be named, jumped on the tailgate of Earls truck and found her home with the the Briscoe family.

Months later, the Briscoes had Suzy groomed and found out that she was actually a Schnauzer.

Although her home is at the Briscoe house, Suzy makes sure she goes to work with Ross  and neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays this dog from the swift completion of her appointed rounds.

Sandy Clark, officer in charge, said that once when Suzy was sick, the Briscoe family kept her inside for the day.

She threw a fit, Clark said. She hated not being able to work.

Suzy always shows up to work on time: precisely between 8-8:15 a.m.

Shes our most reliable employee, Clark said. She shows up even when shes sick.

Even when Ross works a different route on Saturdays, Suzy has learned the town well enough to find him somewhere.

She stays with me every step of the way, Ross said.

On the days when Suzy isnt on the route (which is not often), the first question asked by everyone on Ross route is, Wheres the dog?

They dont care about me, jokes Ross. They just like the dog.

At the end of a hard days work, Suzy hops onto Ross tailgate, and Ross alwaysS takes her home to the Briscoes.

She comes home about one oclock, Earl said. Then about six o clock, she goes to my sisters house to spend the night.

Although Suzy once was without a home, she now has a cozy place to sleep at night. Maybe in an effort to be Gurdons next Citizen of the Year, she got a haircut and got a real job at the post office. Maybe.

Whatever the case may be, the postal workers care for her as much as anyone. She is greeted every morning with a snack, and to keep her warm on cold days, the employees went in together to buy her an embroidered U.S. Mail doggy jacket.

Ross is one mailman who should no longer have nightmares of rabid St. Bernards, and Suzy is one dog that should no longer be without a home.