On Fri, 05 Dec 2008 07:39:03 -0500, Boater wrote:

Reginald P. Smithers III, Esq. wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
"Boater" wrote in message
...

Oh...what would you do with an intruder in your house who was
threatening you? Call Eisboch for a consult? :)


Although I do have a shotgun in my house, I like to think I will never
use it.

Dogs are a great deterrent to home intruders, especially when they can
be heard and
there's obviously more than one.

Sam will bark loudly at strange noises ... he even recognizes
unfamiliar cars coming up the driveway.
Problem is, if someone broke in, I think Sam would probably lick him
to death. He likes people.

However, Sam has a more silent friend named Fudge, the dog Mrs.E. took
in. Fudge lets Sam do all the barking, most of the time. But Fudge
doesn't like strangers and doesn't hesitate to go into attack mode.
Even people he somewhat knows but doesn't see regularly will set him
off and either Mrs.E. or I have to demonstrate that the visitor is
OK. Only then will Fudge relax. The other day my oldest son went out
into the garage area to get something, not realizing that Sam and
Fudge were out there. He came flying back into the house doing about
Mach 2, with Fudge on his tail, snarling and growling with foam all
over his mouth. It's scary to see.

Don't be fooled by this picture. He may look scholarly, but it's an act:

http://www.eisboch.com/fudgebook.jpg

Eisboch


A dog, even a small lapdog is much more of a deterrent than a gun.
A burglar wants an easy mark, a loud barking dog encourages a burglar to
move to another home.

Yes, that's the conventional wisdom, and sometimes it is true and
sometimes it is not. Too many burglars today are hopped up on drugs, and
may not react in the conventional way to a yapping dogs. Others may be
in the mood for a little of the old ultra violence, and simply kill the
dog, too.

Way back in New Haven days, we had a prowler on our back porch who was
scared away by my mother's yapping Pomeranian, Shirley. These days, some
of those prowlers might just try to shoot the dog through the door.

A burglar is hoping to find an empty house. If there are people home, it
is an entirely different crime with much worse outcomes.

It's funny. Even here in Washington DC, where we get our share of
burglaries, I've never heard of a burglar shooting a dog and then breaking
in. I've not heard of a break-in followed by a dog shooting either.

Yet, you make it sound like it's pretty common. I tried looking in the
Huntingtown newspaper, but couldn't find it.
--
John H.