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Old March 2, 2012, 10:14 AM   #26
Edward429451
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Quote:
dogs like our President currently has.
I forget the breed of that dog but supposedly is a very trainable breed, a good protector, and totally under the radar as far as so called dangerous breeds go. Probably why they have one.

Not locking your doors and windows at night is foolhardy. If you can have a dog and make no guns accessible except to you...lock your bedroom door at night too, then who could get in and to you before you woke and armed yourself?
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Old March 2, 2012, 10:15 AM   #27
ClayInTx
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Quote:
In the OP:

…offer some opportunities to talk about HOW the homeowner got so far behind the curve and the various steps he could have taken…

I take this as a question about a situation in which locking doors and installing motion detectors and buying a dog is too late to happen now because an intruder is standing at the foot of your bed.

Firstly, the intruder came in through a sliding glass door. The phrase “lock the sliding glass door” is an oxymoron when referring to ninety-nine percent of the sliding glass doors on the market. Even with the so-called blocking devices added.

The typical “normal” door can be opened by a determined and knowledgeable intruder. An ADT sign in the yard just causes him to believe there’s something inside worth stealing and he’ll have to disable the alarm. Only the “amateur” intruder is deterred by this. Someone who just escaped jail and on the run is seldom an “amateur”.

My car has factory installed anti-theft systems and requires a coded key to start it; and car thieves know exactly how to work around these. Alarms and locks and dogs and attack cats are no threat to professional thieves or desperadoes on the run.

I don’t lock my car because if it’s going to be broken into I’d rather it be broken into with still good windows instead of broken into and broken windows. If it’s stolen I just hope it’s found later without bent fenders and as much gas in it as when he stole it. Insurance will replace the key lock and repaint the scratches on the steering column.

In the OP case the homeowner was fortunate because the intruder was lacking both gun and brains. I doubt that the “average” home invasion would be similar; the “average” intruder would likely have both.

The only way to gain control as I see it would be to have a gun in bed with you, and not in a holster and not tucked beneath the mattress. The only way to have it instantly reached would be to keep it under the pillow; and I know some men who do just that.

As far as a “safe area” where one can sleep with unlocked doors, I don’t know of any. I do know of an entire family being slaughtered in a rural area of Georgia where it was (used to be) “safe” to have unlocked doors.

The OP homeowner got ahead of the curve by thinking and using it. The rest of us might not be so lucky, unless we have a gun under the pillow.

BTW, if you want a good “alert” dog get a poodle.
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Old March 2, 2012, 10:51 AM   #28
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Poodle...huh.

Well, the Siamese cats will like that...

Thanks for the tip.
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Old March 2, 2012, 11:00 AM   #29
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Standard poodles are a rugged breed of dog. I seem to remember someone running a team of them a few years ago in the Iditarod dogsled race.
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Old March 2, 2012, 11:10 AM   #30
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IIRC, the current canine occupant of the White House is a Portugese Water Spaniel.

Re poodles: In my veterinary practice, I saw for several years a Standard Poodle that was attack trained. The owner kept it clipped in the usual froo-froo poodle cut, but it was trained to attack when it heard a certain foul word. (I thought that was very clever - an attacker sics the dog on himself when he uses foul language.) The owner was kind enough to demonstrate one day and it was a formidable display.

Two bits of advice on choosing a dog: First, the discussed personality characteristics of a breed are a trend from which any individual can deviate, sometimes substantially. You need to evaluate the individual at least as much as the breed, and it is not unreasonable to consult a professional in doing so if your knowledge and experience are limited.

Secondly, the health and personalities of dogs vary in inverse proportion to the popularity of the breed. I have seen different breeds go through entire cycles in my thirty years of practice. When a breed becomes popular, lots of yahoos think they can make a quick buck by breeding anything strong enough to stand. All sorts of problems arise, the breed becomes unpopular, and then the only people continuing to breed are the ones who care enough about the breed to be highly selective in their breeding stock, and the breed recovers.
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Old March 3, 2012, 09:31 AM   #31
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I am in the lock the doors club. My girlfriend is getting better about it lately. When she first moved in she like to leave the door, and a couple of windows open to let in some fresh air. Well a locked screen door would help. Though I can not install one due to the fact that we are in a rental property. a few times I have found the door unlocked. After she saw the reports of a couple of home invasions that happened here in town she is now steadfast on locking the door, and keeping the curtains closed.

I can see how the intruder was in the house for a while without alerting the couple. My hearing is awful (legaly deaf) and I sleep soundly, though my dog tells me when someone is at the door. (You should see how happy he gets when the adorable Girl Scouts come to the door selling cookies.)
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Old March 3, 2012, 09:35 AM   #32
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Put a "1" in front of your 911 !

I just made that slogan up and I love it
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Old March 3, 2012, 02:05 PM   #33
Don H
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kraigwy
I have three dogs, two of which are Bassets, meaning they might let me know if something is a foot, but I can't expect them to do anything. If you know Bassets you know they just might sleep through the whole encounter.
I know exactly what you mean! Our Basset is a real watchdog--she'll happily, and quietly, watch anyone do anything!
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Old March 3, 2012, 02:21 PM   #34
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I'm not advocating having weapons placed all over the house. I knew a guy who slept with a 1911 under his pillow and had a 38 revolver in his dishwasher.

Yes, in his dishwasher

But I think it can make sense to have something bedside and in your bedroom closet.

I wonder what kind of snack the guy made himself.

If someone came into my house and ate my mortadella I'd be ****** !!!


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Old March 3, 2012, 02:27 PM   #35
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Put a "1" in front of your 911 !

I just made that slogan up and I love it
Get a copyright lawyer right now!
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Old March 3, 2012, 02:44 PM   #36
Lost Sheep
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But can you do it from a deep sleep?

Quote:
Originally Posted by hawk727
This is why I sleep with a holstered gun, under the blankets every night. Even if I take a nap in the recliner, a gun is on my lap. Too old to fight but can still double-tap into a life size target pretty accurately at 30 ft.
I recall an experiment where trained, fit, healthy and well rested individuals were placed in a dimly lit room, in a bed, fully clothed and told that sometime in the following couple of hours a target would appear in the doorway and they were to shoot it.

The accuracy results were dismal.

It takes a while (argument for some kind of early warning system) for a relaxed person to change mind-set from sleep to full alert and target-oriented. When I was young, 2-5 seconds were enough for me to come to full alert, be completely awake with heart rate and reaction time, balance and strength to full capacity. Age slows everyone down.

I wish I could find the study so I could analyze it.

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Old March 4, 2012, 04:29 PM   #37
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It's a Sunday afternoon, sun is shining (snowing too ) and I'm sitting inside with all the doors locked.

If I go out to the shed for a tool, . . . the door locks behind me, . . . I have a key in my pocket, . . . and 2 doorbells if my hands are full.

It is a wonderful, low crime, out in the boonies, on 10 acres type place, . . . and I just want to enjoy it as long as the Lord will allow me to be here.

That just might come to an end, quickly, if the wrong person came along and waltzed on in while I wasn't looking, . . . happens all too often, . . . and all too close. Locked doors and 1911's can keep at least some of that stuff at bay, . . . that is what I am trying to do.

May God bless,
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