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'Silly dog.' - bit harsh 
Ritter vs the Post Office
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Ritter continues to be weird in his own special way. You know how a lot of dogs freak out at the sight of the postman? Nope, not Ritter. The mail truck comes, the mail truck goes. Ritter doesn't flick an ear. FedEx and Amazon leave deliveries on the steps. Ritter continues to slumber on the sofa, unconcerned. The grocery delivery service opens the door to the breezeway and leaves a pile of grocery bags? Well, he might get upset if he happens to be in the backyard, and he can see through the window that something worth inspecting has arrived. Otherwise, nah.
So, this afternoon I took him for a walk past the post office. To my surprise, he stiffened, stared, and started barking. The subject of his concern was a banner with a large picture of a mail carrier. Apparently mail carriers are only ok if their heads aren't 3 feet tall. I invited him to go over to the banner to check out the disturbing picture. He stalked over and gave the banner enough of a sniff to assure himself the picture wasn't actually a Godzilla sized mail carrier. He then stalked away, grumbling, while still giving the banner the side eye. Once he was at a safe distance he gave a single harsh woof, as though delivering the final word of the showdown. Silly dog.
So, this afternoon I took him for a walk past the post office. To my surprise, he stiffened, stared, and started barking. The subject of his concern was a banner with a large picture of a mail carrier. Apparently mail carriers are only ok if their heads aren't 3 feet tall. I invited him to go over to the banner to check out the disturbing picture. He stalked over and gave the banner enough of a sniff to assure himself the picture wasn't actually a Godzilla sized mail carrier. He then stalked away, grumbling, while still giving the banner the side eye. Once he was at a safe distance he gave a single harsh woof, as though delivering the final word of the showdown. Silly dog.
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One of my rescue dogs was very wary of house for sale signs on various lawns. Like you, we stopped at each and I encouraged him to investigate. It took a little while before he stopped having any reactions. My guess is that he was a country dog before and had never seen a sign like that.
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I love Ritter stories!
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Oona has a terror and hatred of surprise lawn ornaments especially if they are animal or human shaped. In class once she lost her mind over Bernadette, the stuffed animal Bernese mountain dog that our instructor was using to demonstrate different harness types. I think the stillness of an object that looks animal shaped is unsettling/threatening. Maybe it is something similar for Ritter.
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Galen definitely went through several periods where he was freaked out by lawn ornaments and sculptures. His first ever snowman encounter had him on edge too. Ritter has always been less disturbed; he rarely reacted to the Halloween and Xmas decorations that arrived and disappeared seasonally. That's why this banner surprised and amused me.
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Oona was slightly offput by the appearance of a toddler-height snowman next door, yesterday evening. Then this morning she realized his "hair" and "eyebrows" were French fries ...
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Annie hated the sound of a flapping banner, flag, or tarp as a puppy. I wonder if that could be part of it?
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Our neighbor has a statue of a pointing setter. I agree that the tense, entirely still, and head down body language is usually a sign of getting ready to bite or pounce (I've experienced this with our rescue, Buddy) Sometimes she notices the statue, and sometimes she doesn't. But she always sees it when pregnant, nursing, or in heat. She will growl, tug on the leash, and do anything she can so it knows that she is the boss.
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