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Okay guys & ladies, perhaps someone can help me out. I worry about protecting my home and family at night. I have 3 younger children (3, 7, and 10), and my biggest concern is that someone would break into my house without waking me up. Our master bedroom is at the opposite side of the house, and I'm just concerned that if someone were quiet enough, that bad, bad things could happen before I was awake enough to do anything about it. A few times, Ive gotten home late (working late), and my wife was sound asleep and never even noticed that I came in, and this scares me. Any thoughts?

My dogs always will give me notice if something is not right or someone is trying to get into the house.
Plus, they are great friends and kids love them. A barking dog will bring you to your senses quickly from even a deep sleep and allow you time to arm yourself and investigate the cause for alarm.

Burglar alarm. You can buy the components at Radio Shack and other places. They're not expensive these days. Or you can sign up with a service and pay ~$30 a month.

A good dog is valuable, but you need to find one that alerts on real threats. Some bark at every squirrel in a tree, so you start ingoring them; and some would sleep through Armageddon.

- Jim

My Weimaraner is great. She lowly growls when unsure, but if someone comes in she goes ballistic and corners them. My wife's nephew came in while my daughter was taking a shower. She let him come in 10 steps and then cornered him. Would not let him move until my daughter called her off. Lol, I am having Lab/Weimy pups in a couple months. My Lab is just as good about alerting if someone comes in , only he will lick them to death,lol. Good luck

I believe a good home security requires layers. First layer: Get to know your neighbors. Exchange numbers and alert each other when something just does not seem right in the neighborhood. Second layer: Dog…Dogs can alert you to something outside before that something gets in. Third layer: House alarm…the alarm will alert you if something does get in. Four layer: Home protection weapon and plan. I believe we should have the tools for home protect available and a plan in case of an invasion. This is especially true when you kids are across the house from you. Make sure they understand that if the alarm sounds they need to get out and go to a safe place…i.e. a neighbor’s house. Make sure everyone knows their rolls…ie. The wife calls 911 while you either gather up the kids or confront the intruders. Plans need to be discussed and practiced. Practice allows you to identify weaknesses in the plan. Every ones plan is different and priorities are different.

Personally I have a Shiba Inu to alert me. Small but powerful Japanese dogs (mine's no more than 15 pounds). The great thing is she never barks unless she has a good reason to. And I mean NEVER barks. The time when she has barked and woken me up, it was cause a possum was rummaging through the trash after my roommate had accidentally left the garage door open. She won't bark at people approaching the door if I'm home, but she'll just walk over to the door and sit and stare at the door.

I gotta say this dog is a lot less annoying than my parents' alarm system - the dispatcher calls me at least once a month (since my phone number is listed on the contacts) and I have to tell them it's most likely a false alarm

This is what my dog looks like, to give you an idea of the breed:



Whoops how do you resize these dang pictures? sorry about the size y'all...

pt145ss wrote:I believe a good home security requires layers.

It seems that many people think you should get an alarm OR a dog OR a gun.
Some combination for a multi-layered defense system seems the best choice to me.

[quote="mgood]
It seems that many people think you should get an alarm OR a dog OR a gun.
Some combination for a multi-layered defense system seems the best choice to me.[/quote]

Here would be a combo of the three.

Barking Dog Alarm
Water Gun Alarm Clock

Just use the barking dog alarm and wire it to the water gun instead, but load the water gun with OC!!!

Between my 100lb German Shepard, who is very suspicious of strangers or anyone not of the household who comes to the door, and me & my guns, we here at the Frankie residence feel as if we have things covered pretty well.

My lab use to bark at the slightest sound,now at 10 years old i gotta whack her with my cane to wake her up,i am a light sleeper thank god

dukalmighty wrote:My lab use to bark at the slightest sound,now at 10 years old i gotta whack her with my cane to wake her up,i am a light sleeper thank god

some of the older outdated models are hard to part with

Well guys, I appreciate all the advice. I've never really had a dog, but if I get one, I think i'd want it professionally trained. I am going to look into that. In addition, I'm going to get an alarm installed, and we'll see how that works out.

pt145ss wrote: Make sure everyone knows their rolls…ie. The wife calls 911 while you either gather up the kids or confront the intruders.

This might cause some trouble in our ranks!

Be EXTREEMLY careful about what you "train" your dog for. Having been in the "dog world" for over 30 years in almost all aspects, the "trained guard dog" without the person controling it even more dedicated and trained than the dog is like taking a .357 and loading it and putting it on the living room table. Sooner or later, it's going off and more likely than not, it's going to hurt someone. Except for the experts, having an attack dog is a very, very poor decision.

That said, I firmly belive that all dogs (oh yea, we have over 15) should have basic training and manners. Teaching them to alert is basic and often comes "pre-programed" in many breeds. Some are better than others, esp good (normally) are those that were bred to "guard" sheep, cattle, people, etc.

Garry N

CompVest wrote:

pt145ss wrote: Make sure everyone knows their rolls…ie. The wife calls 911 while you either gather up the kids or confront the intruders.

This might cause some trouble in our ranks!

I believe that. Mercy that gal can