Postal delivery workers in Leerdam were accompanied by a robotic “dog” on Wednesday in a PostNL trial.

The troubled Dutch postal service, which has been clamouring for more state support and has cut its delivery schedule, is experimenting with robotics “to see how technology can help our postal workers”, director Stephan van den Eijnden told local broadcaster RTV Utrecht.

A service robot, a human-shaped robot and a dog-shaped postal assistant were put through their paces, the former filling up parcel delivery point lockers, while the dog carried parcels to people’s front doors.

Of the three, the dog-shaped robot performed particularly well, PostNL said.

“We are very happy with the results,” a PostNL spokesman told the broadcaster. The robotic dog can climb stairs and is able to deliver packages in multi-story buildings.

PostNL has been using robots at its sorting centre in Nieuwegein for years and does not rule out they will be playing a bigger role in delivery in the future. They will not replace the human postie, however, Van den Eijnden said.

Real dogs are a common professional hazard for postmen and women and parcel delivery staff, with 300 incidents a year and an average of over six bites a week. PostNL is concentrating on perfecting the robotic dog’s range of possibilities but has not said if that includes deterrents against their aggressive live peers.