um, no - what you want is a big ass dog that someone is going to see and not going to want to mess with.

Yeah, I agree with Johnp about the dog...the purpose of the big dog is not to make noise but to eat the intruder.

haha, thats totally true. my (now ex) bf and i came home a few years back to the sounds of a man crying in the basement.

turns out he had started to break into the basement window when sky, his gorgeous all white pitbull, grabbed onto his leg and wouldn't let go. he had been there for over an hour.

and he stayed there until the police came =)

If the dude is already in your house... you've failed.

You now have a broken window/lock and a potential lawsuit on your hands when your poor dog bites the guy. In some areas, even if he was an intruder you dog would have to be put down.

Agreed, my dog doesn't necessarily bark his head off, but if someone comes up the sidewalk he gives a very scary sounding, gutteral bark and puts his paws up on the front door.

Even people that know me and my dog have backed away from the door VERY quickly.
Ha.

I agree too, you can often tell the bark of a yapping little rat dog. I still think a big dog is the better way to go.

agreed! when i was in college i went door-to-door for an environmental group, and i've also done political door-knocking. just seeing a pit bull or german shepard on the other side of a chain link fence was enough for me to pass by a house unless the owner was outside. i love pit bulls, and shepards, and grew up around both... i'm not trying to start anything with other lovers of these breeds... i'm just saying they have an intimidating presence, especially to a stranger. so having a big ass dog will certainly help. a big "Beware of Dog" sign posted out front is enough for me to be on alert when knocking on a door, too... no matter how tacky they may look, if you are really concerned, they're a good choice.

Suddenly, my small dog's "yapping" seems like less of a nuisance. When my neighbors complain, I can now inform them that it's a security measure.

The point about the yapping small dog is that it notifies people in the house that someone is trying to break in, once they are in it is a whole other issue (and I'd heard that pros carry dog treats and deal with them once inside anyway).

designpirate: yes, you can tell it's a little dog (rat dog! don't insult my dog and I won't insult yours) but the point is that the barking draws attention that the burgler doesn't want, and that's why it puts them off.

Jooly, I am sure a big man that is desperate enough to break into a house is not going to have a problem kicking the little dog across the room. Sorry, but it is reality.

But designpirate, the neighbors will already have heard the yapping little dog by then. That was jooly's point.

It seems rather cruel to expect any lovable pet dog to be expected to defend the house and possibly incur harm in the process. Some solid locks, an alarm, and/or other preventative measures sound a lot better to me.

All the little dogs I know bark every twenty seconds... when a dog walks past, when the mail comes, when a leaf falls off a tree. I'm totally immune the the barking of my neighbor's dog, but when my big lab-x barks, about once a week, people notice.

Why all the small dog hate?

designpirate: yes, but why go to the house with the noisy dog to deal with, when the one across the street has no dog? It's like car theft - or any other kind of theft, really - why create a scene/take extra time by breaking the window/picking the lock of car X to see what's in there, when car Y in the next spot has it's doors unlocked.

I don't hate small dogs! I'm just saying that in my experience if it's a barker the neighbors will tune it out. There's a large dog in our neighborhood that's a barker too and it's equally ineffective. But around here (LA) the ratio of large barkers to small is probably about 1:30.

I didn't expect my smallish (28lb) dog to be a guard dog, but he woke me and alerted me when a guy was breaking into my house at 3 a.m. I was able to call 911, and when the guy came into my house, my amazing little boston terrier chased him around barking. He normally never barks, so this was shocking. And yes, I'd prefer other security measures, because the jerk kicked my dog, but I don't know what I would have done without him. The guy was on meth and no professional, so it didn't really matter that there was a dog barking.

Our Staffordshire Terriers (pitbulls) bark and we don't really correct them until we see who is at the door. They're the sweetest, most loving dogs and it would take a burglar exactly 3 head scratches to make lifelong friends but we don't advertise that. So far, we haven't had a problem in a neighborhood that is going downhill fast. Honestly, we don't expect them to protect our valuables. I would rather they hide so they don't get hurt or stolen.

We also have a security alarm and deadbolts and rosebushes planted in front of most windows (they don't hide the window but anyone trying to get in will get at least one thorn in them).

I feel lucky to have a mid-size herder that is very protective by nature and will bark (and bite) if he feels it's necessary. Hard to train his alphaness, but worth it. My golden would just show you in and lick your face.

I don't care if that last dog in the pic is a mute, I'm not going anywhere near - it looks pissed off.

All I want to know is where I can get one of those fake wall socket place so I can stash my fake pearls and $1 bills!

We have a 75lbs Weimaraner and she barks anytime anyone is on our property (that she can see or hear.) She has a big bark that you notice.

Most states and cities have very humane laws and ordinances around dog bites. To put a dog down after he/she bites someone is very old fashioned and extremely ignorant.

It is your homeowner's insurance you need to be afraid of if your dog bites.

My 85 pound greyhound -- a real sweetie -- has a bark that will scare the skin off of any burgler. Good thing they don't know he's a wimp!

I have a 60 lb Samoyed that looks even bigger because he has lots of hair. People have run away to the opposite side of the street to avoid walking past him. He also has a deep bark that will scare anyone away. Little do they know that he is the sweetest boy, and the worst he will do is lick your hand.

Elle B, A barking greyhound? That's rare! My greyhound doesn't make a sound, and would peacefully snooze through theft, murder, fire, flood or plague.

I think black dogs are scarier to people (in general) as well. My parents have two 80lbs black labs who are complete sweethearts and would probably lick an intruder to death. Still, when my mom walks them in the neighborhood you would be surprised how many people cross the street so as not to walk next to the dogs! It always blows my mind.

Big versus little dog is not accurate. The point is to HAVE A DOG. It is the best measure of security, bar none. Aside from having a 24 hour security dude stationed at your front door, having a dog, big or small, is the number one recommendation of a lot of security people. Their presence is what matters when it comes to the burglar picking or not picking your house to rob.
A friend of mine had her house burgled a couple months after getting a dog. The thief apparently had been patrolling their neighborhood for a target and not realized that they had obtain a dog recently. Once he broke in and the PUPPY started barking, he grabbed what he could and split. It could have been a lot worse but because the dog started barking, it startled the burglar enough to cut his thievery short. Turns out up until a couple months before, they were the only house on their street without a dog.

Some have touched on this in the flurry of the dog debate. Complete and well thought out security is the BEST measure to prevent access, dog or no. If someone HAS made it into your home, even is the dog prevents any theft, I think you have failed.

I say from experience. I have a guard dog. NOT a yappy dog, not a dog that is big that looks intimidating, but a GUARD DOG. She is trained, she is tough and she CAN and WILL and HAS inflicted harm. BUT - I have still been robbed. A burglar who wants to get into your home, I mean REALLY wants to get in, will find a way around a dog. Period.

I love my guard dog, but unless ALL circumstances are right for the dog to do what they know best, it is just a gimmic like the security signs.

The best defense is using ALL your defenses and not assuming that having ONE thing, like a dog, will help.

I have an attack cat. Yes he knows the command "sick em!" and he will scratch your eyes out from out of nowhere. Cats are much more difficult to deal with than a dog if you are being attacked. They are very quick, nimble, and sneaky.

Hey don't laugh. Dogs will run away from my cat.

Would anyone take that generic security sign seriously? I see the point about not letting a thief know which kind of security system you have, but I'd see that and think the people just printed out the sign to make you think they have a security system. It's like the little stickers that were in the window of my sister's 1982 Honda proclaiming it has a security system. I highly doubt anyone really believes that old junky car has an alarm or tracking device.

My 65 lb Portuguese water dog seems like the biggest goof around, but he has a foolproof instinct for sketchy people. He greets most strangers by jumping up and trying to kiss them. But the day a guy opened our front door and started to enter our house, clearly intent on no good, Dobbs chased him out the door and down the street, barking and snarling viciously, and jumping aggressively up the guy's back. He may have even bitten him. (And fortunately, I live in Canada, where if your dog bites an intruder, the authorities have the good sense to say "Good dog.") I was in the kitchen and only caught the last part of what happened, but man, it really made me appreciate my dog even more.

@plain jane: Someone once told me that, pound for pound, a vicious cat can cause way more damage than a vicious dog, and I believe it!

Maybe the best thing is not to have anything worth stealing in your house. I don't know of too many home breakers that take furniture and major appliances.

I used to live in a very rough part of Minneapolis. I had three larger dogs, and the neighbors to either side of me had one small dog and no dog at all, respectively. Both had their homes burglarized several times in the 10 years I lived there. As far as I can tell, nobody ever tried to get into my place, and it would have been easy, too, as I left my doors unlocked much of the time. But the minute there was noise at the door or window, these three dogs would set up a vicious growling/howling trio.

In reality, it was a very, very friendly black lab, an incredibly shy/submissive shepard, and a ball-obsessed springer spaniel making all the noise. They wouldn't do a thing to anyone who came in, but they sure made a racket as an alert, and I have no doubt that scared off any would-be burglars, unlike the yipping of the small dog next door. IMO, dog barking is not really about alerting the neighbors, because neighbors tend to ignore and tune out the sound. It's more an issue of letting the perp know that there will be a lot more trouble with this house. It's my belief that most burlgars, unless they are targeting a house for specific reasons, would prefer a house with the least amount of trouble.

Think about it...if you were generically perping on someone's house, trying to break in, and heard big-dog growls or a yippy yap yap, which would make you more nervous?

Move next door to retired people. The old couple next door to us are home all day long and if any one stops by while we are gone, the neighbors walk over and ask them who they are. We get a full report when we get home. Free security guards.

I get the impression this guy is giving you this info to make places easier to get into.

As everyone else has said, I don't want my dog to bark. I want my dog to tear the burglar's head off.

I have an American Staffordshire Terrier (like a large pit bull). I took a polaroid of him and put it in the window of the front door. In 14 years, my place never got broken into though all my neighbors' places did--even though mine was the easiest to break into as it was on the ground floor and had its own entrance (the others had shared entrances and flights of steps).

Any dog that can be punted across a room is useless, regardless of how much it barks.

Hey Dobbs, can I have a photo of your dog? :)

First, show love to your dog or even cat and if your caught in a bad situation your companion animal will be there for you. Next, train to use a side arm and be prepared to use it. Insurance and properly recorded off-site documentation is a must.

an "in case of emergency save my dog" decal somewhere on the front of the house would be just as effective as "guard dog on duty" at getting the point across without sounding aggro, and also it obviously buys the pupper a bit more insurance in a storm or fire crisis.

We have "fake" alarm stickers (from home Depot) but they look real. I also bought some for my parents. When their neighbors were robbed the state police came by the house to see if my folks saw anything. The police officer told my Mom the stickers were the best things (after good deadbolts and just simply locking your door)- he didn't even realize they were fake until she told him!

As for dogs- any barking dog is good. Robbers will go to the house with the least problems- no dog noises, no people noises, no deadbolts-unlocked doors or windows (people still do that- can you believe it?). Just don't advertise when you get new stuff (tv or computer boxes in front of your house on garbage day etc...)- don't tell people about the amazing collection of whatever it is you have, don't tell everyone when you are going away for your vacation -and you'll be just fine.

I've never had a break in situation, where do you guys live??

I have an American Bulldog, over 100 pounds of pure muscle, with the most intimidating bark ever. Not only is she great at deterring burglers, but also door to door salespeople! I always feel safe with my Daisy around.

In the mid 90's I lived in a old house in a somewhat sketchy Hollywood neighborhood with a roommate who was also female. She had a yappy small dog that was too little to see out our big front bay window. I had a larger Shepard/Collie mix who never barked and was friendly to everyone. My dog would silently look out the window while her dog barked crazily. We never had a break-in though I'm sure our place wasn't very secure. Perhaps would be burglars were creeped out by the big barking dog that never moved his mouth.

Personally I think good locks and other precautions PLUS a dog are the best bet. Depending on a dog alone is putting a lot of responsibility on your pet that is susceptible to poison and injury. Also a good dog owner walks their dog regularly which is a great way to get to know your neighborhood and neighbors. You should still lock your place up tightly to protect both you and your dog.