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By Kenneth L. Meyer
The best home security systems should include man's best friend; a dog!
Nothing is perfect. A purely mechanical fix for home security may not always work. After all 'Murphy' said: 'If anything can go wrong, it will!'
Mechanical failures; electrical failure, etc'.most dogs keep right on barking!
Certainly performance failure can also include a dog to be sure; however, in most cases having a canine as an integral and
purposeful part of a home security plan is a great and functional idea.
The vast majority of law enforcement offices this writer has questioned regarding this topic agree and recommend a dog as
part of the home security system.
Loyalty
None of the purely mechanical home and burglar alarm systems have even one ounce of 'loyalty' built in to them.
Whereas all dogs and certainly some breed more than others, are loyal to a fault and more to the point'to the death.
Let me clarify that last statement. Some dogs will give their lives to protect the 'pack' and you my friend as owner and
master are the 'alpha' dog, or you should be.
So, if the pack is deemed by the watch dog to be threatened some breeds will gives their lives in an instant without a second
thought to insure the safety of the pack.
So get a dog to help protect your home!
Which breeds are best and recommended? Let us take a look at that.
The following breeds are believed by many experts to be very good and reliable watch dogs:
Bull Mastiff, Rottweiler, German Shepard, Doberman Pinscher, Chow, Rhodesian Ridgeback, and Bouvier des Flandres.
While not an expert on dogs I have had personal and glowing experience for many years with the Bouvier. (3 in my adult life
to date) They are born mature, bark rarely but bark menacingly when a perceived intruder is close. It is like they are
waiting until they 'have' them, then they bark.
In addition, as with several of the above mentioned breeds, the Bouvier is very threatening in appearance. By that I mean
they are big and look tough and focused, as indeed they are.
On a non-related note the Bouvier is naturally wonderful with children and believe it or not they are a family dog wanting to
be inside more than outside even though they are classified as a 'working' dog.
Some home security experts question the wisdom of getting a smaller but noisy dog as a watch dog. I'm ambivalent on that
issue. I've seen home security situations where a small dog who is naturally loud has given good warning to the family and to
the intruder that the jig is up!
The choice is really up to you. I would counsel that getting as much bank for the buck does apply here; and getting a big,
menacing dog that is family/pack oriented and will bark at a threat (not attack necessarily) would be the best suggested
solution.
It is true that the 'bad guys/girls' don't really want to deal with a loud dog or a loud anything or that matter so a dog is
a great idea.
Having a dog as part of your home security plan also has side benefits.
For instance you have a companion there with you that loves you, in most cases anyway.
You know they are on the job 24hr a day, as most watch dog breeds sleep lightly.
The bottom line is that putting some fore-thought and effort into making a watch dog breed a integral part of you home
security plan is extremely wise and will result in increased security.
