Dogs

Before her death at 16 years old I had a beagle named Moggie. Beagles as a breed tend to wander off if they can find a way. I had a fully fenced yard, and once left her alone in the yard only to return a short while before she had dug a hole fully under the fence. After that I never let her outside alone. I walked her four times a day on workdays and more when having a day off. She got plenty of good exercise. As a hound she had a keen sense of smell and good hearing. When anyone approached the house she let you know before they reached the door. We never faced a situation when she might have had to become aggressive. She was good natured, but she barked at anyone approaching the house until I told her to stop. I slept better then.

This guy is the current master of the house. Supposedly Akita/pit bull mix.
His muzzle is graying, but he still has alot of fight in him. He is bye my side 24 hrs a day. He never breaks eye contact with me. Just stares at me all day long.

I have a Border-Collie/Terrier mix. She does not figure into my defense plans as she is more likely to lick you to death than actually attack you.

She doesn't figure into my defensive plan. She's just a random element that might activate when you arrive, but I'm relying on the electronics.

My Turkish Van cat recently died of esophageal cancer. She's the one who you may remember from earlier posts that when someone tried to break through my front door (at my previous house) ran to the door and positioned herself to attack the intruder.

As far as I am concerned, you need a large dog to help back you up if someone attempts to attack you or break-in, but you also need an aggressive cat since nobody breaking in seems to have an answer for a 10 pound bundle of hissing fury, teeth and 18 rasor-sharp claws.

Dogs are like guns in that you can have one and not really do anything with it. It stays home and sort of gives some peace of mind or something and compared to a gun of course is a much better buddy.

Or you can get into training and doing stuff with your gun, whether it's training at a gun club, one of the academies, seminars in various 'tactical' subjects, or competitions like IPSC, USPSA, three-gun, or even Cowboy.

With dogs, amateurs focus on equipment (the breed), students focus on technique (housebreaking, obedience, manners), and experts focus on tactics.

Here are two of my ferocious beasts ….both love everything but you wouldn’t want to come into the house as a stranger with the feisty German fur missile. As for the Golden, he would just want the intruder to pet him.

Well, I gave my poor spoiled dog a “treat” of fresh venison tidbits. She looked at me like “What is this? It’s not food”. Of course after I microwaved it she wolfed it right down.
This is my spoiled motorcycle buddy. Notice the “I’m not a squirrel - don’t shoot me” jacket.