Dogs and crime

[girlbug2]

Some people keep large, aggressive dogs at home as a way to protect their property from burglary, or maybe themselves from home invasion. I personally know some people on my street who have told me that's why they have rottweilers. OTOH I have heard other claims that a good home alarm system is better defense.

Now I happen to have an extra large labrador retriever, but we got him as a pet and never expected him to grow so much. Still, I have to admit that I sleep a little easier at night with the windows open, my dog at the foot of the bed. He has never failed to sound the alert when a person has approached our house. He is very non aggressive, but his bark sounds very deep, and perhaps an intruder would think he was mean.

What is the truth regarding dogs and how much, if any, that they deter crime?

Does the size/breed have any bearing on this?

 

[MJS]

Some people keep large, aggressive dogs at home as a way to protect their property from burglary, or maybe themselves from home invasion. I personally know some people on my street who have told me that's why they have rottweilers. OTOH I have heard other claims that a good home alarm system is better defense.

Now I happen to have an extra large labrador retriever, but we got him as a pet and never expected him to grow so much. Still, I have to admit that I sleep a little easier at night with the windows open, my dog at the foot of the bed. He has never failed to sound the alert when a person has approached our house. He is very non aggressive, but his bark sounds very deep, and perhaps an intruder would think he was mean.

What is the truth regarding dogs and how much, if any, that they deter crime?

Does the size/breed have any bearing on this?

Its amazing how strong a dogs sense of sight, smell and hearing, are. I have a Shepherd/Huskey mix. There've been many nights, when he's been upstairs, my wife and I have been in the living room, watching tv, and we'll hear him bark a few times, and he comes racing downstairs, heads over to the back sliders, looks out and continues to bark. I look out, and sometimes I'll see someone walking their dog, other times I see nothing. Of course that doesnt mean nothing was there. Was it a small animal? A person? No idea.

I think that the size of the dog will play some part. I mean, a lapdog probably isn't going to be as intimidating when it barks, compared to a Shepherd, Rotti or other large breeds. Then again, even the largest of dogs could be a complete teddy bear, should someone come to the door. I think alot also depends on your body reactions. They can pick up on that. When the doorbell rings, if my dog is with me, he sits within eyeshot of the front door. If hes upstairs, he comes down to the door. He does this with my wife as well.

There was one night (I wasn't home when this happened) my wife had some people over, and they ordered a pizza. As usual the bell rings, the dog sits, wife goes to the door, but then steps outside. The dog ran over to the front door. There have been times when, while she was walking him, they passed by someone, and the dog turned, placing himself between my wife and the other person, and started barking.

Our dog has some basic training, but no, he hasn't been trained to attack on command. Do I feel that were someone to break into the condo, or physically do something to my wife or I, that he would come to our aid? Without a doubt.

Do I think a dog is good defense? Sure, but also taking other precautions as well, ie: a good alarm system, good locks on the door, motion sensitive lighting outside, etc.

I hope all that answered your question. Sorry for the ramble.

 

[Tez3]

Burglars don't want anything that makes a noise to alert people so small yappy dogs can be a very good deterrent ( however much they are annoying otherwise!)
Geese are better than dogs, they are noisy and they attack viciously! we have plenty of homes round here who have them.

 

[Carol]

I don't have a dog...although I am amazed at what my cat picks up! He has learned the sounds of other people's footsteps in the building If someone goes by and kitty doesn't budge...its just one of the neighbors. If someone goes by in the hallway and his head perks up, ears high up - kitty doesn't recognize them either. I stay alert and listen until the noise goes away.

 

[girlbug2]

Geese are better than dogs, they are noisy and they attack viciously! we have plenty of homes round here who have them.

You mean as pets? Are they kept indoors?

 

[Omar B]

I love dogs for home protection. What makes them better than any automated system is that they are pretty trainable and have enough of a level of intelligence that you can generally work with.

Growing up my uncle raised dogs for the police department and I used to adopt puppies not selected from time to time. I've had Boxers, Rotties, and a darling German Shepherd that was my favorite dog ever.

Their sense of protection and of ownership over a specific plot of land the people in it's pack makes them something special. Besides, what's a better deterent than a hulking beast with claws, teeth, moves pretty fast and can use that super powered nose and find you. It's a trained monster is what it is.

 

[Laus]

My last dog was a lab/husky mix, rather small for the breed but "large" as dogs go.

I lived in a lousy neightbourhood at that time, and she liked to sit on the fire escape that led into our alley. Several of my neighbours stopped me over the years to say they were glad she did, because they always new if anyone was walking around down there because she'd bark at them until they left.

The few times I was alone without her overnight (if had just come home from a trip and hadn't picked her up yet, for instance) my senses were always on high alert. Normally I'd have her to distinguish between benign noises and suspicious ones, so when she wasn't there I always felt the need to be more vigilant (I suppose that could be an argument against having a dog).

On the flipside, when I was out walking her, shady people would often use her as a pretext to get closer to me (what a nice dog! can I pat your dog?! etc etc). I've had a few men follow me around, others just get too close, others still I had to make a scene to get rid of, all while with my dog - in fact this seemed to happen more when I was with her than when I was alone.

She was a great deterrent at home but with her friendliness, not so much on the street.

 

[jks9199]

Dogs are a mixed bag as far as being part of a protection scheme. The mere presence of a dog can deter some burglars... but not all, and some crooks are very good at recognizing which dogs will be problems and which won't. Others simply have a plan for dealing with the dog...

Like any other part of your defensive scheme, they're useless if they're not employed properly. For a dog, that includes proper, consistent training, aimed at being part of that protection plan. The family pet is probably not going to be particularly effective.

 

[bushidomartialarts]

Both Tom Patire and Gavin DeBecker recommend dogs in lieu of alarm systems or carry weapons.

Alarm systems are fine, but some studies suggest that many families get tired of false alarms, turning them on and off and similar complications....so they stop using the alarm for the day-to-day. Your dog will never grow bored of loving and protecting your family.

The data also says that an attacker is less likely to attack a woman with a medium to large dog than he is to attack a woman openly carrying a firearm. Speculation is that a mugger might doubt they woman will pull the trigger...but he has no doubt that the dog will make a quick snack of his delicate parts.

Just my two cents.

 

[elder999]

As a true deterrent, dogs are as they are in all things: only as good as their training. (When it comes to work, anyway)The barking may scare a burglar off, and will alert you to a problem, but if the dog gets so excited that it bites you (this ha actually happened more than once) then its not very useful, is it?

One of my dogs isn't going to bark at a human intruder at all, actually....

 

[Ken Morgan]

My parents had two mid sized dogs at their farm a few years back, friendly dogs, but made noise when strangers approached. Didn't matter, someone drove up, went in the house, and emptied it of all valuables. Give the dogs a cookie and they were your best friend.