Couple years ago our house was robbed in broad daylight. I got home to let the dog out maybe 30min after they'd left, according to the neighbor -- who didn't call the cops despite the Neighborhood Watch/We Call Police sign 50ft from our driveway, and having said she "didn't think they should be there". [shock2] :evil:

Dog was a 16-y-o wolf mix who wouldn't have helped much, but provided enough deterrent to keep them from going past the barricade into the basement, where she and the TV and such were. They still got over $12k of stuff, and had picked up a big knife from the kitchen and a handmade Kali/Escrima stick (martial arts) - roughly a 1"x30" piece of cured birdseye maple. Definitely would have considered them armed with intent if I'd been there. Found both weapons on the floor near where they grabbed most of my wife's jewelry.

Cops were no help [detective] even though we had a good idea of who was behind it (not the ones who actually entered the house). Fortunately no one was hurt, and they never found the magnum. We did a full theft report natch, and because it was mostly jewelry that wasn't specifically valued/insured, we only got like $2k back.

Sorry to ramble... just wanted to add this for a real-life example. Had I been home at time of entry... blah blah blah blah blah... Had I arrived a bit earlier to find their truck in the driveway... we'll never know. Still torques me if ya can't tell. Oh and fyi they crawled in through the dog door. Ours is now sealed/boarded so thoroughly you'd need heavy tools and some time to bust it open, but if you've got one take a good look at the size. Many are large enough for a smallish person to squeeze through.

Stay safe all.

EDIT: thought about this post later and realized I probably came off badly. Removed what later sounded/looked like posturing about my martial arts. Also wanted to add that I'm not anti-cop, wasn't trying to cop-bash. Just frustrated with that particular experience all over agian, thinking about it... not their fault the prints didn't turn up anything, etc.

Carry on.