In our encounter with an armed intruder, who was wearing a bullet proof vest I might add, we learned a lot of lessons. First, we had cameras in the yard with motion sensors and a tone notification system that was audible inside the house, and he kept coming anyway. None the less, this is what saved our lives. Early warning of the attack was the key. We have since made that notification louder to also let the intruder know that he has been detected, and changed the cameras to Bosch Auto Track systems that have the motion detection built into the camera heads that acquire the intruder and follows them. In our encounter there were a few moments when we didn’t know where he was due to fixed cameras and that would have been very helpful. We followed the advice of the Sherriff’s Dept and bought a German trained protection dog, a $28,000 German shepherd. I have done my homework, and large household dogs are good for basic deterrence and a noise maker, but are no match for a real criminal, and these days many of them are “real criminals”. Anyone you feel is “bad” enough that you need a gun to defend yourself with dispatch your family dog in a couple seconds. 100lb 2 year trained German Shepherds don’t back off when hit with baseball bats, and they won’t let go no matter what you do to them. These animals are heat seeking missiles than don’t just “bite” they will kill an attacker. I know of a crook was attacked by one a few years ago, and the assailant got off 5 shots with the dog on his arm before he passed out from the shock and blood loss. If you go the dog route, don’t fool around with locally trained “police dogs”, they will likely bite your kids or neighbors. Pay the money up front, see someone like Howard Rodriguez in Burbank (he travels around the world, clients have been Wynn, Bo Derek, etc.). It’s the best investment you can make; it stops the attack from occurring altogether in 99.9% of the cases. Not having an attack or armed encounter at all is the best way to keep everyone safe. Guns are great and I have a slew of them, but if I could have paid someone $100,000 to not have my wife and children go through the terror of what happened, I would have done it. If I had had the dog, he would have never made it to the house, and due to gun laws I was unable to shoot him. He turned his back and walked out when he saw I was pointing a gun at him. There is a lot to know. In the heat of the moment you have to know when you can pull the trigger and not, and very few people can make that distinction when under extreme duress, much less hit the target. Just because he’s even in your house, you can’t always kill him. If I had shot him in the back going out I would have gone to jail. Stop the attack from happening in the first place, get a trained dog. My dog follows my wife and kids around the house like a sentry. He is kind and loving to all kids, not just my kids. However, we test him all the time; he’s like some kind of animal from the gates of hell when he’s working. The best home defense is not a gun, its not having the situation ever come up that would need to use it, its deterrence.
