[Eric-325I]

Hello Alfred:

My wife, while earning another degree, had to write a paper and chose 'crime statistics' or something along those lines. What she found was interesting. The vast majority of prisoners convicted of home burglary/invasion type crimes listed a dog on premises as the number one deterrent. Home security 'systems' were fairly low on the list. Criminals claim that they can either disable many of the alarm systems or figure they have a few minutes to get what they want before cops will be anywhere near... YMMV.

We have a dog and will never be without one or two. They are house dogs and very friendly, but they make a lot of noise when they hear something out of the ordinary. I would suggest getting a dog. Or, 'pretend' to have a dog by putting out dog things behind the house (dog house, dog lead/chain, dog toy, food bowls). Sounds dumb but it has proven to work.

Eric