Ah, summer: Picnics, trips to the beach,...

Ah, summer: Picnics, trips to the beach, back-yard barbecues--and dogs chasing mailmen.

“The summer is the worst time of the year for us,” said Postal Service spokesman Dave Mazer. “At a lot of houses, the kids are home and the weather’s warm so the front door is unlocked. The dog only has to put its paws on the screen door and he’s out of there.”

To dramatize the need to keep Rover under control, some 200 uniformed carriers and their families marched from El Sereno Park to the El Sereno station in Northeast Los Angeles, carrying signs that said things like, “Put the Bite on Dog Attacks.”

Postal nips in the city number 56 this year--an increase of 12% over last year--and more than a third of the incidents have occurred in the Northeast section for reasons that no one can explain.

“The dogs seem bigger and more aggressive nowadays,” Mazer said. “I guess it’s the age we’re living in. They’re trained to protect. And some times they get carried away.”

Of course, at least in Southern California, the enemy is visible.

“I heard of a case in Florida,” said Mazer, “where a letter carrier was bitten by a snake.”

Speaking of fangs . . .

In the old days, television shows about local cops, such as “Dragnet” and “Badge 714,” received the official endorsement of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Not so, “Nick Knight,” a two-hour pilot about a Los Angeles police detective that was broadcast on CBS Sunday night.

Possibly the LAPD stamp of approval was missing because Detective Knight has a personal problem: He’s a vampire.

Works in the canine unit, no doubt.

Television game shows have their own special lingo. And it’s ironic that one of our oldest and most conservative cities would give its name to a type of prospective contestant who’s deemed too bizarre or boring to be selected. But that’s the case, according to Newsweek magazine.

The name evolved from the expression, “Pass on this one.” When producers want to reject a contestant, they explain: “He’s a Pasadena.”

Motorists nearing Los Angeles could be excused for feeling as though they’re being pulled in opposite directions philosophically as well as geographically by back-to-back billboards on the San Bernardino Freeway, as the accompanying photo suggests.

Bill Stein saw a television commercial for automobiles in which the announcer said:

“Bankrupt? Bad credit? No credit? No money? No job?

“Come see us--when things get better.”