Do you think dogs make good burglar deterrents?

Clodagh said:
Conniegirl - you must live in a fairly urban environment? You can call the police here about a crime in progress and they don't come out at all.
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close enough to Hull for the police to actually come out, that and the town council is constantly on the polices case about the crime in the area since the police station in the village was closed so they do come out fairly quickly. Mind you there was an armed car jacking at the end of my road a few months ago and since then police presence has been much higher and more visible so it may take even less time now
 
My dogs certainly do.

The Weimaraner acts as the muscle and the five Beagles act as the burglar alarm. Nobody in the village would sleep through the noise they can make when something isn't right.
 
conniegirl said:
then you are naïve in the extreme! Burglar alarms are not a deterrent, nobody pays them any notice as they give so many false alarms so it is unlikely that anyone will call the police and even if the police are called by the time they get there the burglar has been in, cleared the place out and is likely 10 miles down the road! the average burglary lasts between 8 and 12 minutes, generally by the time someone has tracked down which house is alarming, called the police and the police have turned up it is 20 to 25 minutes.

The house opposite me the alarm is forever going off in false alarms! we no longer react to it at all.
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Very true - as somebody who spends her working days with criminals -they are not a deterrant, every burglar I have ever worked with has told me that a burglar alarm does not put them off - as they will be in & out long before the police get there
 
I lived in a remote location with a bridlepath running through it. I had 2 Rottweiler x Mastiffs in the yard and 2 Rottweilers and a couple of Patterdale terriers in the house. We were never burgled although our travelling brethren would show up regularly but would never get out of their vehicles until someone went out. I also work in a prison and can confirm that most burglars won't tangle with dogs and treat alarms with disdain! If the 'spoils' are valuable enough, then they will do whatever necessary to get in. I'm never likely to have anything worth nicking though!!
 
conniegirl said:
We used to call the police, but now as the alarm goes off a minimum of twice a day we don't bother.
Boy who cried wolf syndrome. There is only so much police time I am willing to waste.

mind you there were several times when we did phone the police about the alarm going off and they were not interested at all. no one turned up. Police have more important things to do than to turn up to every false alarm.
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We have our alarms serviced yearly and the one false alarm we did have was down to spiders. They come into the house to breed in the autumn, they're enormous and they sit on the sensors. Would help if I dusted occasionally.

You're quite right the police are overstretched.
 
cinnamontoast said:
I reckon we're OK, the cars are old enough not to encourage burglars!
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I was just having this same conversation earlier with my hubby as a house in a neighbouring street got burgled and a car stolen. Hubby said the thieves would be too worried about getting either of our cars to start :p
 
The problem with CCTV is that the burglars can wear hoodies, face masks etc so if you don't manage to record a car number plate then it's not enormously helpful.
 
Yes, dogs help to prevent the burglars to an extent. WorkingGSD is right, burglars hate dogs. Many burglars said that barking dogs and the CCTV cameras are most effective burglar deterrents. But I don't suggest you to completely depend on dogs for the home safety and protection because they won't offer the reliable techniques like the professional security companies provide.
Here are some mistakes you might be doing with your Big Dogs:
-Most bigs dogs are not good barkers. The trained dogs will do makes noises and act accordingly when they find the burglars.
-Dogs can be easily distracted by the burglars with a piece of bone or meat.
Give a proper training to your dog to mold them into a guard dog. Consider these tips to train your dog:
-teach them the basic obedience skills
-establish yourself as the master
-Socialize your dog
-train them to bark and cease barking upon command
-walk with your dog on the perimeter of your property.
 
My big dog would never use her teeth but at nearly 40 kg and tall and a terrible habit of jumping up and down and barking like an absolute lunatic Id be surprised if anyone got past the window or the door. My little dog meanwhile being a terrier probably would use his teeth and go in for the little calf nips while big dog is busy raking her claws down would-be burglars face.
 
My little dog would not be distracted by food for more than a second, unless food comes from a person he trusts or he has discovered it in a hedge then he is very suspicious.
he also sounds like a massive dog! got a proper Hound baying bark.
 
They might put off opportunists but if people really want to get in, a family mutt isnt going to stop them. tbh I dont want my dogs at risk, dogs can and do get hurt during break ins, so if mine stay in their beds then thats fine with me, there's nothing in the house worth more than my dogs.
 
WorkingGSD said:
Having just gone through the above "top guard dogs" ... I can safely say the article is trash, and don't bother reading it ;)

It mentions Huskies - who are well known for being useless guard dogs, as well as wolf-dog crosses!!
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The article also mentions malamutes, and even says that they're unreliable :D

The husky barks if anyone gets too close to the front door, and I suspect he would be the same at the back. Although as the back garden is double fenced (sled dog security), surrounded by neighbours and can only be accessed via the house or garage it's quite an effort to get in... The malamute would probably stand on his hindlegs to say hello and knock them over...although he does also make a very interesting noise which has been variously described as an 'unearthly screech' and 'angry wookie howl' which might put people off... :P
 
Our fairly normal lab won't let men in the house when the male of the house is out, and it'd take a bold dog person to try to get in when we're all out. We don't need to lock the back door. We've had stuff taken from the yard but not one has ever gone in the house.
 
On Monday night someone left a car idling on the kerb, crunched up the gravel driveway and tried the shed door. The dogs managed to not hear any of this and didn't even manage a bark when sent out. Instead my OH heard it and went sprinting down the garden in my crocs, far more effective. :p
 
My young toy poodle can hear every single grasshopper which passes wind in the hedges across the street, so can be a very good alarm. I think most burglars are opportunists and if they think there is a chance of getting rumbled by a dog, then they probably won't bother. Unless they think something inside is well worth the risk....
 
cinnamontoast said:
I used to think so, but my OH assures me having a dog is no longer a deterrent and tells me some of the burglaries he attends have injured dogs. Apparently (sorry, tmi) the burglars tend to use iron bars. If a burglar targets a rich house, he will persist, regardless. We live near a very rich area, part of his patch. Cheryl whatsherface has just put her house up for sale there. I reckon we're OK, the cars are old enough not to encourage burglars!

My lot would be epically useless after initial barking from the youngsters. They lick my hand if I put it through the letterbox. Don't know what they'd do to a stranger's hand. The worst they'd get once inside would be a sulky Zak and an attempted snap if they tried to touch him without us being there.
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OMG horrified to read this, my husband is a retired police officers and always says most burglars go for an easy target ie no dogs in house, get in through open windows, dog flap, unlocked door etc.
 
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Surely there will be burglars who will go for a particular house regardless, but most garden variety burglaries are probably where it's less likely to be caught?
 
We have a Great Dane x Husky who sounds absolutely immense. She barks at the slightest noise. If I were burglar and I heard her bark, I certainly wouldn't be going anywhere near it. Now if they broke in and confronted her, she would stand her ground and bark (hackles up etc) but she's actually quite a wimp. Still, I think any sane person would turn and run as she is big and can look very imposing.
 
Not if its a whippet. Unless the burglars were after the sofa and his blankies, then he'd have 'em fully restrained and the police in the way!
 
My WCS has an impressive voice and sounds bigger than he is - would put people off I hope, although I wouldn't use him for guarding , I'd be too worried he'd get hurt, he's a bit of a wimp too, gives it his all noise wise but backs off PDQ!! The JRT in his heyday was not to be messed with, nowadays a burglar would be more likely to fall over him than get bitten as he likes to wander about right around your feet!!
 
Before we bought our smallholding I got a rottiX who barks at every noise, including planes, thunder and the TV. We have small glass panes of glass either side of the door and even though I know her she looks **** scarey when she shows her teeth. I used say that she protected the lurcher when they were in the car together.
A traveller buys his hay from me, he will not come on the yard if she is out. The funny thing is he has a large terrier in his yard as a deterrent and that is really nasty, I have seen it go for someone.
I also have a couple of phone cams on the front of the house. My next door neighbour has been burgled twice, she has an all singing camera system, but no dog.
 
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