Big, well trained dog.

I have used that for years----while most of my neighbors relied on various home security systems.

They all had problems.

My only problem was cleaning my yard.

I agree totally about the least amount of work idea. That is why I would have to see a lot of improvement in electronic alarm systems to be in favor of them. Why? Because my neighbors and I lived 2 blocks from the city police station(small town) and the response time was never less than 15 minutes. That was due to several things---the procedure alarm companies have to follow(to help eliminate false alarms) and their report times(calling that police station from Minnesota or Morth Dakota(where the actual monitoring office was) usually took ten minutes---with the officer response time added.

Have any idea how much time a thief needs to ransack a house? Hint---a lot less than 10 minutes.

My dog(s) made it less attractive than all my neighbors houses---they all had breakins/problems.

I'd have to agree, the right deterent is better than any alarm system. In a lot of cases, a "Beware of Dog" sign and a large chew toy laying out is sufficient. A dog serves 2 purposes, it's noisy like a bell or siren and even a stupid burglar knows they could be bitten and would have to deal with the dog, the noise and maybe the resident. It draws a lot of attention. A stated, if someone wants to get in, they will. Any of the regular guys in here...handymac, mike kaiser, Steve Ballmer, Don 1, know you can break into most homes with a razor knife without setting off any alarms.

One of the things happening today, most people turn their alarms off or have stopped having them monitored. Police services start charging for false alarms after a certain grace number. Because of the drug situations and the cost of a habit, the education level of criminals is getting very high. A trick that is being played out is an individual will purposly set off an alarm and observe how long it takes to get a responce. Then they just wait for a cooling off period and then do their deed. Of course we all know about the smash and run.

If someone knows you have something of value and where it is, it will only take seconds to get it. Without No Trespassing or No Soliciting signs, an individual practically can claim a right to be on your property. They come, set off the alarm and if there is a response, they merely say they were driving by, heard the alarm and was checking to see if there was an emergency. Or, they'll merely claim to be selling a product or service and the alarm was going off when they got there.

Take an old tape cassette, pull it apart and affix the tape around any window or door highly visible and that in itself can be a good deterent. If you have a key fob for your car, keep it by the bed and push the horn button if you suspect an intruder is lurking about.

A dog, exercising your second ammendment, a few signs, key fob and nearby telphone and a couple of individual door and window alarms should help you sleep at night.

I forget the name but there is a security company that monitor your house via camera. I assume this uses a phone line. Would be great for fire and burglary detection. They advertise on tv and radio often

I'm missing something. Maryland_Irisman, what did you mean when you said to "Take an old tape cassette, pull it apart and affix the tape around any window or door highly visible and that in itself can be a good deterent."? Why is it a deterrent?

The cassette tape looks like the tape that's used to detect glass breakage. Although you don't see that as much as you used to, maybe younger intruders wouldn't recognize it.

Just buy a couple of wifi network cams and hook them to your router. Maybe get the ones with two way audio.

You can be your own security guard when it emails you that you have a visitor... and you can describe them to the police before they arrive,, and advise the theif to be ready for the standoff, smoke and tear gas grenades and final shootout.

" I don't have any experience as a thief but I would imagine many dogs could be "defeated" with a nice piece of meat (perhaps even laced with something) or a can of pepper spray."

And every thief runs around with pepper spray or chunks of meat for dogs.

If they are that well prepared you are very unlikely to keep them out with anything short of full motion detectors covering the entire place.

Dogs make noise. Even small dogs.

Larger dogs can be a real threat to the uninvited, even ones that are friendly when the owner is present.

The Cairn Terrier is a very light sleeper.
The lab does not take well to strangers without us present.
Want to try and break in and see what 75 pounds of angry lab will do?