House Broken Into

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CZSteve

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Sorry, it's early am, can't sleep and just a bit frustrated-ticked.
Came home yesterday after work only to discover our house had been broken into.

During the middle of the day had some low-life scum kick-in the back door and ransacked the house.:fire:
Called the police and according to the officer there has been a rash of break-ins w/ the same MO.
They are apparently after guns for the most part.
Just by shear luck my CZ40B was at XS having new sights installed. They broke into the light duty lock box to no avail - and did not find any of the long guns surprisingly.

Biggest loss was my wifes wedding/engagement rings as she is unable to wear them right now because of swelling as a result of being pregnant along w/ some other jewlery and a couple cameras as far as we can tell right now. Very lucky overall I guess.

Hindsight:
Better (real) gun safe happening TODAY.
Dog is staying in main part of house while we're away; 90# Weimereiner has been in dog run w/ access to work shop so she can play.
Can you say alarm system that I have been putting off. :banghead:

Already spent last night w/ my brothers help replacing the back door and taking tomorrow off to follow-up w/ the police and insurance co.
They apparently have some high school suspects from previous incidents; keeping fingers crossed.

Sorry, just had to vent.:cuss:
Steve
 
Sorry to hear that!

As for the dog, I allow my German Shepherd to do his job by giving him free reign of the house while we're away. The only drawback to this is dog hair on the carpet (though a weekly vacuum takes care of it).
Doggie-door to the fenced-in back yard lets him take care of business himself, so he's an efficient security system if I ever saw one. He's also about 90 pounds and extremely territorial/aggressive with strangers.

I once received a solicitation call from a home security company offering me a free estimate to equip my house with their product. When they asked be if I currently had a home security system, I simply answered "Yes, a dog". End of story.



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Very sorry to hear that, CZSteve,

Been through that once in Hollywood, Ca. Very upsetting experience.

I 2nd the motion for a dog.

My 117# Alaskan Malamute keeps the scum away from here.

Also important to have signs. I use 4 x 5" vinyl stickers on windows front and rear, right next to the doors, that say: Warning Bad Dogs with a drawing of a German Shepherd with his teeth bared.

Don't forget stout outside doors with DOUBLE DEAD BOLT locks.

Again, sorry to hear this.




Matis
 
I worry about that every day. I live in an okay area but still worry. I don't have a gun safe or security system right now. I'm sorry to hear that CZ.
 
Sounds like you're very lucky considering. For all you know they might have pepper sprayed the poor dog. Some have....:fire:

We had people in our neighberhood that were breaking into houses. We knew exactly who they were -- right across the street from us -- but couldn't do anything about it. One neighbor lost jewelry that her mother had given her and she was hoping to give her daughters. They tried to break into another neigbor's home and actually stole the damn gas from our cars. Can you go any lower? We consider ourselves fortunate that's all they took. One time my car was broken into near the trains while I was working. It is a feeling of violation and sorry to her you and your wife are going through this. In my case, they just smashed the windows and took nothing (nothing much to take though I was poor even then) might have made me feel better if they had. They smashed the windows just because they could. This happened to my sister too -- the window repair guy sent us a lovely Christmas card though to thank us for the business....:rolleyes:
 
You know this stuff wouldn't happen if they just castrate all Burglers. No matter what the age, just snip snip. It'll make some of them think twice. Because lets face it, they'll be caught at some point and then they should get the Snip. IMO.

I had my trailer broken into before. Just kids stealling what ever they could. But one of the little darlings pooped on the coffee table. I just threw it out. Didn't want it anymore after that.
 
Agreed, we were fortunate overall (sounds strange? :rolleyes: )

Have 2 cats along w/ the dog that was in the wrong place/wrong time); none of the critters were harmed. :)

Only damage was to the rear door upon entering; no vandalism at all, just the mess from searching the house. Still amazed they didn't damage the house more our take any of the electronic stuff.
Didn't even spill my coffee cup in the bedroom as they were tearing it up to and fro.
 
My parents subscribe to the 'Hardly anyone even knows about our development, we're in the way back and we lock our doors all the time so we dont need an alarm or anything' idea.
My girlfriend's family subscribes to the 'Let two 100+lb German Shepards have run of the house and dont bother to lock the doors' idea.
And my parents wonder why I feel more secure at the girlfriend's house than at home...

Kharn
 
Snow, wow, great photo!:cool:

CZ, at least you learned a hard lesson. A dog is too easy to kill or dope. Get a safe as well, one of those must haves, and your wife will probably forget the combination. This will allow you to add firearms without her knowing and you can "protect" the wedding photos.:p

"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, I know you want to look at the wedding photos for the millionth time this week, but I seem to have misplaced the combination.":D
 
When I my house got broken into here was the conversation between me and the 911 operator:

911 Operator: Is the person still in your house?

Me: No ma'am if he was I would be requesting a ambulance.

911 Operator: (trying to stifle giggle) Do you know who did this and where they are at?

Me: No ma'am if I know that I would be telling you where to send a ambulance to.

911 Operator: (Beginning to chortle) Okay sir I have a officer on his way.

Actually my wife and I got broken into 3 times, luckly the first time
the SO recovered 90% of the stuff within 48 hours. The second time all the person took was a handgun. The third time the alarm scared him off.
 
Its the worst feeling in the world almost isnt it? Well those feelings that are brought on by property. Espcialy if you live by yourself. I got broken into and that night was one of the worst ever. I almost packed up and left right then as I didnt want to stay there unprotected. I now have some firearms so its a hair better. But laying in your bed afraid someone might come in is a bad feeling.

Dont forget dead bolts dont do a thing if you dont have some long screws in there. Put in some 3" + long screws in the striker plates and in the hinges.
 
Snowdog,

That's a great picture. I just sent it around to my co-workers who are fellow German Shepherd owners.

I'm not an expert but the best advice I can give is layers of security. Deadbolts, safe, dogs, etc. your even luckier if you have neigbors who keep an eye on things while your out.

Sorry for your loss. Hope they catch the b&stards.
 
bowlcut said it before i did! a deadbolt dont do crap unless its installed correctly. most just have it in the flashing. get a really long dead bolt that at extends an inch an a 1/2 as well as using the 3 inch screws.

i cant believe high school kids! what the hell is wrong with them!
i hope you get your wedding rings back, on stuff like that its not the value its the sentimental part that hurts! check your local pawn shops!
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

The dead bolt plate in the jam was installed w/ 4 3" screws penetrating into the frame; the door itself was kicked hard enough to buckle where the bolt slide completely out of the plate.

Good point about the pawn shops.
Have already left a message w/ the detective that specializes in tracking pawn items and will be providing pictures & diamond specs.
I will also be popping in on pawn shops whenever I can, hey another reason to look at guns. :rolleyes:
 
Sorry to hear about that. The wedding/engagement rings are the worst part, too. My wife would be heartbroken.

Look at it this way, although it's small consolation: These types usually get what's coming to them in the end. A local "cat burglar" here just got himself blasted by an armed homeowner - end of another criminal career.
 
Don't like "snip snip" for burglars. I think "bang, bang, you're dead" works better since it promotes rehabilitation through reincarnation.
 
Don't like "snip snip" either. I prefer "snick snick"....the sound of 2 safeties being set to 'fire' mode
 
Snowdog has it

get a good guard dog. A GSD from European working lines is probably the ideal one for a home, since they tend to be friendlier to family members than other working dogs. With some training they will also ignore blows or even gunshots. Most dogs, even tough looking ones, will run off if smacked with a club.
 
Beware! Burglars usually come back for 2nds. Be ready for them
Click to expand...

In about 4 to 6 weeks, after you have dealt with your insurance and replaced everything.

Had a buddy several years back that got hit 4 times like that, averaged about 5 weeks apart. Got his homeowners cancelled after the 3rd hit. But he never seemed to remember not to put the boxes from the new stuff on the curb.:rolleyes:

Sheeeeeshhhh
 
Addendum, in response to the post about dogs beaten to death. That would be all but impossible with a trained GSD from good lines. They are fast, and they don't back down. We have ours work in male/female teams like a pack. Nothing this side of a brown bear could get through them, and even the bear might think twice. They actually cooperate in the attack, with the female hitting (and it does feel like a powerful punch) the back of the legs or back of the shoulders while the male goes in for the arms. And those bites will crush bones, believe me. Part of their training keeps them from going in for the kill with a neck bite, but you could certainly train them to do it as part of ringsport.
 
Look into door reinforcers. They are brass plates that go around the locks on the door, and prevent the lock from being smashed out of the door as it appears it happened in your case.

I also put in armoured strike plates with long strong screws.
 
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