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Friendly UPS Driver Snaps Adorable Photos With The Dogs Who Live Along His New Orleans Route

Friendly Ups Driver Snaps Adorable Photos With The Dogs Who Live Along His New Orleans Route

On a mission to call for peace between mail carrier and dogs, Jason Hardesty, a self-described "easily entertained UPS driver" in New Orleans poses with adorable dogs he meets along his daily route.

While dog owners love their fluffy friends, delivery drivers typically don't actually share the same feeling.

In fact, many mail carriers aren't fans of dogs, and the feeling is apparently mutual as dogs have been known to bite more than their fair share of mail carriers.

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A recent study by United States Post Service revealed that more than 6,244 delivery drivers reported being attacked by their customers' dogs in 2017 alone, to be precise.

Thankfully, one UPS driver in New Orleans is doing his part to repair the fraught relationship between dogs and mail carriers.

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Hardesty really gets to know his customers' pups and tailors his position to bring out the dog's unique personality in photos that he regularly posts on Instagram.

He began taking photos about three years ago when he was assigned to a new neighborhood, which had much friendlier pooches than the one he was initially assigned.

Hardesty told BuzzFeed:

"My old route, which was more families, the dogs did not like you. They moved me to a different area of town with more people my age, more single people, and the dogs were a lot friendlier."

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"They come to the door and are happy and let you pet them and stuff."

The dogs were so friendly on his new route in the Marigny and Bywater that when he met a particularly cute one, he asked the owner if he could snap a photo with the pup.

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The owner agreed, and Hardesty snapped a puppy portrait, and that's how his brilliant idea was born.

Hardesty's joyful photos with neighborhood pooches have earned him more than 82,000 followers on Instagram.

Amidst his newfound fame, the UPS driver has found himself curating a list of dogs waiting to be featured. He limits his #pupsofjay posts to one pic every week.

Hardesty, who doesn't have a dog, said that the dog owners along his route are fully supportive of his campaign:

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"They love the fact that their dog loves me, and I love them."

While meeting and greeting puppies is a delightful part of his day, Hardesty still takes his job seriously. Speaking to Todays, he said:

"I discipline myself to only take photos on Friday nights."

What a fun way to kick off the weekend—and a creative way to make sure that his puppy pictures don't overrun his Instagram account.

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Each pup seems to enjoy the attention.