Do your dogs make you feel safer

me and my housemate were just chatting. The boys we live with are infamously terrible at shutting the front door. Thankfully the landlord gave them an earful about how if it happened again they'd lose their deposits but we were jokingly saying oh we'll buy a doberman just in case, very tongue in cheek.

But it got me thinking, my CKC doesn't make me feel safe in my house at all, if someone broke in he'd probably greet them, show them the car keys, the TV, the computers and help them load stuff into my car and make them a snack for the drive!!!!

But when my grandma went to a home she gave us her mongrel, and my mum used to say she never used to sleep as easy as when that dog was in the house. But this was when i was very young so i don't really remember.

Just wondering what you thought!

I certainly feel much safer with my dog in the house, particularly as it's just me and my disabled mum living here. Outside of the house Gelert's personality is all labrador but inside he is quite vocal and he looks the part. I know he would alert me to anything dodgy as well as act as a deterrent and that is very reassuring.

Moo barks at odd noises but if I open the door she licks them to death lol

I think this is a good question

I never thought that much about it until one night a couple of weeks ago, i was up late (poor sleeper) and at 1.30am the door bell rang. No i didn't go to answer or even look out, I let Harvey respond in his big deep Boxer bark and encouraged him to do so.

So yes that night I did feel safer with the dogs being there

I feel so safe with my dogs that my patio doors are only closed when it is bad weather.

I do with the boxers.....
The others that have been here make very good watch dogs but would be useless as a deterrent if seen ..

Molly wouldn't do any real harm but I do feel safer for having her in the house. She is very vocal & her bark is quite deep despite her size so I think most people would take her for a much bigger dog if they just heard her barking. I think it would (hopefully) put people off if they were to try & break in. She is also very territorial in the house & would probably go for anyone if they came in unannounced in the middle of the night.

If someone broke into the house though, I'd really want her to just stay asleep on the bed & not do anything. I would rather lose all my possessions that have her attack a burglar & then get hurt for it

Mine would bark, but I wouldn't say they make me feel safe, in fact, if I lived alone they'd probably make me more edgy, yapping everytime a gnat farted outside.
However, since moving from a rather notorious part of Manchester to a semi rural town in South Derbyshire, I've never felt any pressing need for protection.
Mind you, I live with OH and two strapping sons (20 & 16) so that probably helps me feel more secure

I rescued Boo at 4 weeks old and had no idea that he was a guard breed. That caught us off guard when he got to about 11 months but now that I have a guard dog i really like having one and do feel safer. The thais are afraid of the Bangkaew breed so he is more of a deterrent. Because the majority of friends visiting are white he thinks all white people are friends and even thinks he knows them when he does not, even on a walk. Any thai man that broke in i would wager that he would bite them.

i would never have thought to get a guard dog before but they are pretty cool. Whenever I saw a film in the past where the dog did not guard i thought - useless dog!

My two are very vocal if there is anyone loitering outside, or even visiting the neighbours.

The people on the other side of the door don't know that they are not guard dogs. I don't necessarily feel safer, but they would alert us to someone hanging about in the garden.