I read a story back when I first got started in this business, all those years ago, about a Colorado Springs Police Officer who was asked his opinion about deterrents to home burglary. His response stuck in my mind to this very day. He was asked a direct question about what he thought was the best deterrent to burglary. His answer-a barking dog! To this day, if you ask any police officer the same question, I believe you will get the same answer which is why we have devoted an occasional story to barking dogs and burglars.
It isn’t just police officers that have that opinion. Ask any self-respecting burglar what he fears more than anything else when he’s working and his answer will more than likely be a barking dog.
Law enforcement officials and burglars agree to the fact that a barking dog can scare burglars away and awaken sleeping residents to intruder presence like nothing else. That is why burglars hate barking dogs more than anything.
In Fredericksburg, Maryland a local girl stops a burglary in progress at her home. The young lady was upstairs when she heard her dog barking. When she went to investigate she spotted a man in her kitchen. When confronted by the young lady a brief struggle ensued and the burglar ran out the front door. She was not hurt and ran to a neighbor’s house and called the Sheriff’s office. Several deputies responded along with a police dog. They searched the area but the suspect was not found.
In Blackpool, England a homeowner was awakened and alerted to an intruder in her home by a barking dog. When she looked downstairs she saw the burglar in the hallway. She told him to leave but the burglar was under the influence of some drugs and claimed that he just wanted to sleep there. The burglar eventually agreed to leave and was found in an alley at the back of the address by police. He had clothing in his possession that had been stolen from another property.
In another incident from across the pond in England, a female resident was sunbathing (yes, apparently the sun does shine in England) when her dog started barking at would be burglars which police think scared the bad guys away but only after stealing some cash and jewelry. Police found evidence of the front door being forced open. They think the burglar was in the house less than three minutes.
The local Elkhart County Sheriff gave nine Burglary Prevention Tips.
Here are some of them:
- People are your best defense. And by that he means get to know your neighbors, you don’t need to be best friends but talk to each other. That is one reason why the neighborhood watch program is so effective.
- Keep your doors and windows locked even when you’re at home. Statistics show that most burglaries happen through unlocked doors and windows.
- Having a dog that barks is a huge deterrent. You don’t need a big dog because smaller dogs are more nervous and generally bark louder and longer.
- Look for the weakest link in your home security such as the rear sliding patio door.
- Don’t create temptation. Close your garage door and don’t leave tools, bicycles or other recreational gear in your yard.
- A motion activated camera can be a powerful tool both as a deterrent in the first place and secondly as a way to record images of burglars.
Police tell us that if you have an image of a burglar breaking into your house, you have a 50% better chance of catching the bad guy and getting your property back. Most of our security cameras have a motion activation mode so you can record only when there’s activity in front of the camera.
In Bristol, CT recently a barking dog was involved in a home invasion. The then-34-year-old female victim told police she heard her dog barking at the top of the basement staircase. She then went into the basement, where a masked man sprayed her and the dog with pepper spray.
The woman ran upstairs and grabbed her cell phone, and as she was trying to escape, she was hit in the head with a ceramic vase, causing a serious injury, she told police.
The suspect then grabbed a blue bank bag from her purse, which she had from her job at a local scrap yard, containing $10,000 in cash and payroll checks.
And then this story where three teens were taken into custody after the homeowner, who was awakened by a barking dog. The homeowner chased one burglar who was inside the house only to find another one outside. The homeowner recognized them but was not friends with the three teenagers who were quickly taken into custody and face charges.
We have a vast assortment of home security products to include window and door alarms, a.k.a. burglar alarms, home security systems and one of the most effective and popular motion activated alarms is the Barking Dog Alarm that makes the sound of a barking dog when an intruder enters the protected area.
Burglary is the most popular crime in the United States, committed more often than any other partially because homeowners make it easy. Protect your home with some of our tools and use common sense.
Do you believe that a barking dog is a good deterrent to burglary? What do you do to protect your home from burglary? Chime in with your thoughts! We want to hear from you!