While it's extremely difficult to protect your home and possessions from professional thieves, the majority of home burglaries are usually done by amateurs. Many of these amateur thieves are more easily thwarted if you employ some simple security precautions.
Thieves and burglars are often defeated employing their two main fears; attention and time. Anything that draws attention to their activities or causes them to spend an excessive amount of time trying to get into your house may cause them to look for “easy pickings” elsewhere.
Dogs are excellent deterrents to burglars. The burglar’s enemies are time and noise. Anything that makes noise, even a small, noisy dog can be effective. Burglars do not like to have attention drawn to their presence as this may lead to getting caught.
You should also be aware that trained guard dogs do not usually make good pets. Obedience training and attack or guard dog training are two entirely different things. Dogs with obedience training are suitable for home security and as a house pet. (*edit*) Specially trained guard dogs can be suitable as house pets, depending upon the level and quality of their training. Dogs that have been trained as "attack" dogs usually will not make a suitable house pet.
Got bark?
Staying above the water line!
Riverwalker
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22 comments:
I have been training protection dogs for homes and business for over 30 years. Have never had one bad bite! Not one! Been to court numerous times, attempts to sue us for training 'attack' dogs. Never lost a suit! And this in liberal courts such as Denver City and County. Well trained dogs do indeed make wonderful pets for homes. That's why we train the way we do. Companions that are under control. I guess not being around well trained K9s, you do realize almost every police dept. in the country, their K9s go home with the officers, is an excuse. Just not accurate. Great tips, other than being misinformed on this one! Thanks for the blog.
devildog
To: anonymous
I have one dog that is a guard dog and have had a couple of incidents with him. From your remarks, I gather this is probably more of a training issue than anything else. Not all trainers are probably as conscientious about their work as you are. I stand corrected on the guard dog issue and should not have lumped them in with "attack" dogs. Thanks devildog!
RW
Yrs ago,I used to raise purebred german shep's.I had a few that would,and 1 that did,do anything I wanted,and died for it.
she was trained for hand signal's,to hear her name,verbal,everything.Since then,I've had several mutt's. I prefer the mutt's! The mutt's might not be as easy to train,but my 15 yr old german shep/chow has backed me up many time's,(I'll tell the border patrol story sometime)and my 1 yr old greyhound/dalmation is getting pretty good.and they are both the cutest pup's ever,in my humble opinion!
Dean
TO: Dean
Thanks for the great comments. My dog is a Lab/Chow mix and is an excellent guard dog. He is extremely protective of the wife and does an excellent job in this respect. He also guards her truck when he rides in the back. Nobody even gets close!
RW
I guess this is as good as time as any for my border patrol story.Imagine a 35 yr old guy,in a custom conversion van,pulling the world's most expensive dirt bike,with hair down to the middle of my back....I smoke,the rest of my family doesn,t,so I drove my van,with my dog,Copper,the german shep/chow. So,we hit the border,coming INTO the US,and some clown jump's on the running board,order's me out of the van.Yeah,right! Copper jump's over my lap,into his face! He about filled his short's!I was immediatly surrounded by 10 guy's with M16's,had to leash copper..she wanted to play,til I gave her command's..they knew she was trained well!So,they proceeded to distract me to my bike,and ransacked the van in the process.Thankfully,I was following my parent's,which bought me some time,but had I been on the other side of the van,Copper would have had fun!Aside from the bag's being tossed open all over,no big issue.But once they saw Copper heel and sit next to me..they knew better! I think this is the second time I've had way too many M16's pointed at me!Maybe 3.. I'm hoping my greyhound is half this good!She's already a daddy girl,so the rest is easy!
Dean
Unless you own quite a see this is as real option. Unless your dog actually listens to your every command. Which my dog only listens to 65% of my commands... I have yet to break him in.. I don't like doing it.
Just keep your doors locked and a weapon close. And if you are not home you are sol. People will kill the animal, with no regret and especially if it attacks and gtakes a bite out of one of'em.
I see this as optional. It all depends upon your location and real needs versus wants.
Great tip!
We've had both man stoppers (Rotties, Dobies, German Shepherds, Mastiffs) and "yippers" (Chihuahua mixes, Lhaso apsos, Pekingnese, Beagles and very briefly a Jack Russell.)
While the big dogs definitely had that big bark "through the door" and huge intimidation factor when loose in the yard, the little ones usually made just as much noise and often alerted quicker to unusual sounds than the bigger dogs did.
My 2¢ from a pure cost standpoint, the little dogs have it over the big ones. They generally live longer, have lower vet bills, lower food bills, and much smaller "piles" to clean up after, too.
Dog's are great for security, even if you don't have a dog a "BEWARE OF DOG" Sign might be enough to scare of a majority of burglars.
A good "BEWARE OF OWNER WITH GUNS" sign is also a good deterrent!
To: Dean
Very interesting story. Got to watch that border travel!
RW
To: Greenville Road
While an intruder may harm or even kill your dog, I still see this as a vital part of any home security system. Just as windows and locks can also be defeated by a determined thief or burglar. Thanks.
RW
To: Brick
Both my sister and my mother have smaller dogs and they make a LOT of noise. And you're right, they eat a lot lees than my two big Labs. Thanks.
RW
To: Off Grid Survival
Signs work too! Thanks for the reminder!
RW
Even a fifi type dog can be a great sentry and one advantage to a dog of this size is the need for less food.
RE: fifi dog's,
One issue with fifi dog's I'd never thought of til a game warden warned me,we'd taken our poodle on a camping trip.We were warned to keep him on a short leash,as a coyote could make an easy meal of him! If I had to bug out,I'd prefer a dog big enough to intimidate someone/something,at least til I was ready to deal with the situation.
Dean
To: SurvivalTopics
Good points! Thanks.
RW
To: Dean
I hear the gators in Florida also like small dogs.But in the case of a gator I don't see where a big dog would be much of an advantage?
RW
A dog doesn't need to be a trained guard dog to deter criminals, and pets are every bit as good for the casual criminal. They bark, and the potential burglar doesn't know if they are going to bite or not. Most people who are not serious about what they are doing will just move on to easier pickings.
To: logic11
Agreed! The casual or amateur criminal is often easily deterred. The professional or determined criminal will not be as easy to convinced. Thanks.
RW
I'm late to this party (on the road). Sorry.
Two dogs, a large outdoor dog, the other a small indoor (at night) pooch. If the big guy is killed (poisoned or whatever), the little guy is our backup (redundant) alarm system.
Sam
To: Sam
Welcome to the party! Better late, than never. Thanks for coming.
BUD = Back Up Dog
I've got a big one outside and a BIGGER one inside!
RW
properly trained schutzhund dogs are very well behaved, even though they are trained to tear somebody a new one, when ordered.
To: anonymous 6:50
Like a previous comment, if properly trained, guard dogs can be excellent pets as well. Thanks.
RW
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