Quite grateful nothing bad happened to you. It’s a scary situation.

That is probably not enough. They show a wide area around the front and back doors.

A Belgian Malinois with training.

My two extremely friendly labs would alert me to anyone who came on my property, day or night. Their loud, thunderous barking would wake the dead.

We had a neighbor with three young children and a golden retriever. Our daughter was hired to babysit one night. She called and said the kids were asleep, could I bring over a pizza? But don’t ring the doorbell or the kids might wake up.

So I walked over with a pizza and opened the door. The dog, who had never met me, took one look at me, lay down and rolled over for belly rubs. Some watchdog!

them from murdering us in our beds.

He might go for a steak if a criminal threw it at him, but he's really protective of me, and will bite.

If you want protection, stay away from most toy dogs, Danes, Newfies, Border Collies, most retrievers and pointers, and hounds.

Working dogs are the best, following by certain sporting breeds.

Non-sporting, hounds, terriers, and toys don't do much except make good companions.

if you want protection or just alarms. small yappers are actually good alarms.

but they also are only about football sized and that is how one can get them off the attack

We've had several over the years, GSD's, a Chow, an Akita. Our current land shark emeritus is a 12 year old Great Pyr, Moby, who's handing the resident land shark mantel to a 2 year old female Chow. She's filling his rather large paws quite well. The various hounds and huskys are companions and comic relief.

I never had to worry when I was on the road for work. Criminals look for soft targets. Our house is most certainly not.

If the intruder tries to shut up one barking dog, the other dog will come to its defense. The intruder may regret it.

When the Pyr dies, it will be a Berner.

doesn't have to be big, just LOUD and alert to strangers
my cousin's dachshund had a bark so loud it literally hurt

Rec

But of course it doesn't know a burglar from a deer.

Probably any "internet-enabled" motion sensor could do that.

With careful setup you may be able to reduce the false positives but at some point you're also reducing the true positives as well.

The app on my phone shows what is in my yard. We have had coons, deer, feral cats, etc. Fortunately, no intruders. They would show up, though.

The TV pops up a notice that "motion was detected at your back doorbell" (or whatever you name the location of your camera) and the phone beeps and gives the same notification. You could also customize your phone so that Blink notifications give a different sound from all other notifications.

when I searched “cheap home security”.

You can set it to notify your phone when it senses motion. AI descriptions are also available in real time, which seem to be pretty accurate (I don’t use it, but I had a trial period). Outdoor cameras will also have these features. You can also get motion-activated floodlights that also function as a camera (which also have two-way audio).

Glad you are safe!

Blink had a trial period with AI descriptions that ended a while ago but lately they seem to have activated it again. Last night it said "There is a black and white cat walking in the yard", detecting my beagle going for her midnight call to nature.

On each our phones and to our TV. It's not tied to a security company or Ring or anything. We get a notification if any if the cameras are tripped at any time. If you want more details, let me know. I'm very happy with it and beyond the initial expense, there's no additional fees or anything.

i was looking to put cameras on my urban farm cuz someone knows exactly when to come strip my fruit trees. sorta broke my head looking at all the options.

We have a 3tb hard drive for 10 cameras. They're all hardwired. Cameras are motion sensitive to turn on lights and record 24/7 with capacity for weeks. Can be accessed remotely to view each camera individually and rewind to view particular times. We get notifications based on boundaries we've set for anything from animals to vehicles. As my wife noted we do the monitoring so no expense after purchase and installation.

Pm'ing me with the info.

Let me know if you need some info he hasn't noted!

Would you be kind enough to link me to it?
Thanks

Alex will alert us if anything moves on our property. This includes any leaf that may fall. Bark, bark, etc., etc.

it calls the cops and send a notification to my emergency contact. at least i think that’s what i did.
it was absolutely accidental. my ex hubs is my emergency contact. scared the hell out of him.

From what I read and from personal family experience, a gun in your house "for protection" can often be used against you or can be used in a family violence situation. Hubby and I got too old for living alone in our house anymore and decided to seek congregant living quarters, such as Masonicare which is where we are living how. There had been a home invasion of a neighbor's house (in a "safe" area of our city) and we felt frightened and vulnerable.

I would urge you to re-consider having the gun (you don't mention whether it is kept loaded or unloaded). But don't believe me. Do your own research on this issue.

BTW, I was born and raised in Texas (3rd generation), even tho my name here reflects where I am happily living how. While we didn't have a gun in our home, we knew plenty of people who did.

I also have a gun at home for protection. It's kept loaded in an expensive biometric lock box that only my wife and I can open.

I'm in a rural area where police response times would be 30 minutes on the low side, and possibly an hour or more. My wife and I have taken safety training and do practice periodically (my brother-in-law being a complete gun nut with his own shooting range helps with that).

The personal decision to own one for self defense is a complex question.

Add loading it if it is not already loaded. You might be sound asleep when a thief invades your home so this complicates your response time.

I lost a niece in Texas, shot to death (accidentally) when her stepfather was angry and got drunk and waved his loaded gun around, shooting it and killing his stepdaughter and wounding his wife. He then turned the gun on himself. It was a horror scene when the police arrived. This young woman had just gotten married. My brother collapsed at her coffin.

My story is probably not unusual where guns are so easily obtained and kept for "safety" purposes.

Extremely long gravel driveway with driveway alarm. one to two minutes warning before someone is even at the house.

Do your neighbors know you are armed? I wonder because that could be a good thing or a bad thing.

My closest neighbor routinely shoots groundhogs in his back yard (to be fair, we have a big problem with them). I've never even met the neighbors to the rear of our property, there's a half mile of forest between our houses and driving distance from my driveway to theirs is probably closer to two miles.

I don't mean an intruder, but a person (family or not) who knows where the gun is and can access it easily?

Since those are unlikely to get misplaced, I don't worry about it.

Nothing could go wrong!

And that police responded quickly.

Cameras, if you have Amazon their cameras work with Alexa or you can find other manufacturers. Do not use a security service. I live in a rural area and everyone has guns so criminals don’t bother. I love large dogs and folks who have bad intentions go elsewhere. If you go with cameras have a few dummy cameras they will not know which ones to disable.

Dobies are the only breed of dog developed to protect people rather than property/flock.

I don't want somebody to mess with them, and they would bark all night. But, when they run to our front gate, with that big dog bark, they do back people up.

Sigh...

Yes, I'll bet they do back people up. My Pittie does too, except for those who are too stupid -- lots of those around here in TN, sadly.

Skritches to your Pyrs!

If you are not prepared to train and work with these guys or gals they will wind up in a shelter.
I have had giant breed German shepherds and I now own Anatolian shepherds they are not for everyone. I am the one in charge and they trust me to keep them safe. Dogs are not an easy answer. Anatolian’s and breeds that guard are independent thinkers, if they perceive something or someone is dangerous you may be looking at a lawsuit think the mail person. Again do not get a guard dog unless you are prepared to work with them. I met lassie and he was trained to the max.

I lived next door to two Dobermans and they NEVER stopped barking. I'd walk outside my house, and they would be either in their back yard or looking out a window from the house and barked constantly at me. I couldn't enjoy being outside my house.

In their back yard, they'd bark at every squirrel or other creature that moved. They are the most territorial dogs I've ever seen. Even when they were in the neighbor's house, they would go from window to window and bark at whatever or whomever was outdoors within 20 feet of their house.

Mine never behaved that way.

But I "hated" the ones that were at one time next door to me....

She had to sit in the car while I shopped. Lol

I believe dogs are nature's greatest gift to humans.

nt

And the other thing, to do any good, a guard dog has to be outside to be a "good" protector and I will not leave an animal outdoors.

Sorry to hear Mrs. Ferret isn't doing so well at the moment. Healing vibes on the way to her.

OMG I would never suggest leaving a dog outside! I think of them more as a living alarm system -- a member of the family with exceptional auditory skills. All the dog has to do is alert you, right?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10106924/

The dog doesn't have to be large or threatening, necessarily.

Also, as all said and I concur, invest in a good watch/protection dog.

My Pyr is bred to watch, control, and if needed, lunge. Plus they have a latent instinct to know who to trust and who not to trust.

The only downsides are lots of fur/slobber, a lot of barking at everything and nothing, their need for space (apartments would kill this breed), and a propensity to wander if your property isn't fenced in (they can wander up to two miles away but will always come home).

Also, they are mostly nocturnal. Mine is currently sleeping on my sofa on it's back snoring.

Can’t say enough good things about these cameras. We have several on our property and they record everything in view all the time. They’re expensive but worth every penny.

It’s a cat. It’s usually a cat. We have 11 and they’re inside/outside cats. I know people think I should keep them inside for safety but there’s nothing here to hurt cats atm. Used to have a fox decades ago but it’s long gone.

I feed a lot of cats both inside and outside (because I can’t keep them all in! I’m at 9 inside 😬 . Outside cats unnecessarily kill birds and small animals. The small animals should be prey for actual wild animals like hawks, owls, and foxes.
Being inside also prevents them from getting cat to cat disease from feral cats or disease from wild animals. It prevents them from getting sick from flea and tick borne diseases. There are many benefits aside from not being attacked by foxes or coyotes.
I have outdoor-only cats but I wish I had a huge house to keep them all inside!

You are safe!

And yhey supposedly can recognize wildlife vs Human figures/movement. Some also can either play an announcement or allow you to speak through the camera ie “The police are on the way”
You can of course view these from your phone from anywhere.

Nothing to add as to security that hasn't already been mentioned here, but I am glad you are safe now. It was quick thinking to do what you did - and I am taking a little bit of vicarious joy out of the fact that you actually caught one of the suspects. Hopefully that one will sing and the other(s) will also be brought to justice.

It is NOT okay to screw around in someone's back yard without permission.

We have our Wyze cameras mounted inside on our second home on windows (https://www.wyze.com/products/wyze-cam). But, the outside versions are equally effective and weatherproof. The cameras even follow animals and people around as they move around in an area. You can also pay someone else to monitor the cameras and call the police if you choose.

pose a theat while running away.

Slippery slope.

That is what a retired cop told me.
Me: "So if a guy is in on my property making threats, and I grab a rifle, then he takes off running, if I shoot him in the legs to slow him down, then I'm the one going to jail?"

Retired cop: "Yep"

Careful out there.

with money getting tighter every day, we're going to see more robberies and burglaries.

powered bird feeder in backyard positioned to read back entries. It has Bluetooth and works 24/7 rain or shine alerting my phone as much as I set it to. Alarm can be set to go off or start manually. Plus my medium size Schnauzer is Chief Security Officer.

If you leave a locked residence to go out and confront somebody brandishing a firearm when you weren't in imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm, it could be a legal grey area (not saying you were in the wrong). Be careful out there, I'm glad it worked out okay.

If it’s on your property and there is a reasonable perception of danger, especially at night( we have a separate night time code) you are good to go. Pulling a gun is simply a threat of force.

The legal sticky point requiring justification is actually shooting someone. If it goes to the next step especially on something like simple trespassing, you are absolutely not ok.

I did some factchecking and your claims hold up. There was one minor discrepancy around the Texas nighttime provision though: that appears to only apply to the use of deadly force and not the threat of force.

And were not too shaken to call police.

Me - I rely on a couple of narky little terriers.

I'm the sort who always asks. Well, I do if they don't immediately run away from the unarmed crazy guy wearing shoes, undershorts, and nothing else. I can put on my shoes really fast. It's a useful skill to have whether you are running away from trouble or into it.

The only time I've confronted a guy holding a gun was one I surprised on my back porch. He was evading the police who were at the front of my house. Before I could say anything he ran away and jumped over our back fence. The police got him a few minutes later. I figure the guy was lucky he didn't get shot. I've seen the police shoot people I wouldn't have shot.

I've been confronted myself by guys holding guns, but not because I was in anyone's backyard without their permission.

Can property can be violated? Is that a common phrase where you live? I'm just curious. In my mind property can be vandalized, it can be stolen, it can be in violation of some code, but I wouldn't say the property itself was violated. Maybe its a regional thing.

If I was explaining the situation to someone, the cops for example, and trying to be precise in my language, I might say, "I heard noises, I grabbed my gun, and confronted two trespassers in my backyard. " Except I wouldn't have grabbed my gun. In my personal experience once the guns come out everything is fubar.

We can never be "perfectly" safe, but it is Intransigent that we do all we can in that pursuit.

Why didn't you call the police before grabbing your weapon and going outside, and risking your life of course.

Didn't want him to leave and not get caught.

... the good, the bad, and the ugly, that it's never my first thought to call them in any unusual situation..

I grew up in a house where it wasn't uncommon to encounter a stranger staring into the refrigerator at two o'clock in the morning. Me and my wife's house was pretty much like that when our kids were teenagers.

The general consensus was that if the dogs were okay with the stranger, in the yard or the house, it was probably okay.

Maybe not all of the dogs. Some of them liked everybody.

I put in two Reolink Duo 2's. One in the front and one in the back. We have everything covered now. I bought I third one, but I honestly don't think it is necessary. I will probably install it for redundancy.
I appreciate all the wonderful responses and help that was given in this thread.
Thank you all.
FAC