We live in a crazy world! Just look at the news, and you’ll get your fill of break-ins, carjackings, and home intrusion. Thankfully, there’s something you can do about it to keep your family safe and give yourself peace of mind. What is the solution? A family protection dog. These aren’t just any family pets. They are protection dogs that are specially trained to make your family’s safety their highest priority.
Learn more in this article as we compare the benefits of protection dogs vs. an alarm system head-on.
Protection Dog? Or an Alarm System? Which Is The Best Choice?
What a Protection Dog Can Do
Protection dogs are highly trained animals capable of assessing threatening situations, effectively neutralizing threats that appear, and keeping your family safe. They are highly intelligent animals and can adapt to a variety of living conditions.
Properly trained protection dogs will behave lovingly and kindly around children, adults, and even other pets while remaining vigilant to any suspicious activity.
What an Alarm System Can Do
An alarm system is set up in your house to go off whenever unauthorized entry occurs – entry being the operative word. This includes breaking windows, opening doors without the proper code, and panic button alerts.
Alarm systems are limited in use to their activation times, which are often during the night or when a family is away on vacation.
Advantages of a Protection Dog
If the safety and security of your family is an essential priority, getting a protection dog will come with many benefits. Here are just a few of those benefits.
They Can Travel
Protection dogs, just like any family pet, love traveling, and road trips. This means that you’ll never have to leave your living, breathing security system behind. Whether you decide on a road trip or a plane ride, your beloved family protection dog can join you on the journey.
While traveling, they’ll be just as vigilant to your surroundings and prepared to obey your commands. Traveling won’t faze your protection dog and can even enhance their ability to follow commands, sense threats, and hone their intellect.
They Alert You to Trouble
Similar to an in-home alarm system, protection dogs will alert you to trouble. During the night when you’re sleeping, if someone tries to break in, your protection dog will be the first to let you know about it. They’ll wake up the whole house when barking out a warning.
As soon as something is wrong, they’ll get your attention while actively protecting you. When an intruder hears the ferocious bark of your protection dog, they might decide to leave you alone altogether!
They Provide Help On-Scene
Not only will they alert you to trouble, but they’ll be first on-scene, as well. When an intruder tries to break into your home, a suspicious vehicle pulls up to the driveway, or a stranger tries to approach your child, your protection dog will be right there, watching it all.
Trained to neutralize threats, they can ensure the safety of your family while threatening a suspect or taking them down if need be. Whereas it takes precious time for police to arrive after an alarm system notification, a protection dog is already there and ready for action.
They Are Highly Reliable
Protection dogs are highly reliable, intelligent dogs that have been trained to do their job. Their training starts from the time they are puppies and continues into adulthood. When they are ready to join a family as a protection dog, the commands and training are a part of their identity as a dog.
They will consistently behave how you’d expect them to in the face of a dangerous person, an intruder, or other threatening situations. They won’t break form or back down no matter how scary the situation they face.
They Make Wonderful Companions
Protection dogs are raised and trained to be loving companions to the families they join. Most are loving around small children and other pets. They will quickly recognize your friends and accept them as people they are to love and protect. Protection dogs are smart, capable, and enjoyable to be around for the whole family.
Advantages of an Alarm System
While some of the benefits of an alarm system overlap those of a protection dog, there are circumstances when an alarm system comes in handy.
They Are Loud
There’s no denying; home alarm systems are incredibly loud. While your dog will wake you up in case of a home intruder, an alarm system has the potential to wake up neighbors, as well. The piercing sound of an alarm is often enough to send an intruder back the way they came.
They Provide Home Protection when Away
If your goal is to keep your house safe while you’re away on vacation, alarms for home are the best choice for you. They’ll lock the perimeter of your house, and the system will trip if the boundary is broken without the correct key code to disable the alarm system.
They Alert Police
Many alarm systems are built to send a notification to the local police station in case the alarm goes off. Once notified, the police can arrive in as little as ten minutes. Unfortunately, a protection dog can’t notify the police.
Which Do You Need Most?
While an alarm system has a proper place, it’s relatively limited to merely secure the physical location of your house. Even though it can notify the police station, ten minutes is a long time to wait when you’re facing the threat of violence.
Protection dogs not only alert you to trouble, but they face that trouble head-on. They serve as a warning system and an all-inclusive protection package, as well. If they must, they’ll give their life to make sure your family is safe, at home or on the road.
These animals will need care, exercise, and attention and they make wonderful companions for your entire family. If your goal is to make sure your family is alerted to incoming threats and protected from them as well, a protection dog is your best bet.
Which of the advantages of owning a protection dog is your favorite?
Our dogs (2 German Shepherds and 1 Pit) are frequently outside, which means they are visible to any passerby. At night, they are inside. They are the best ‘crime prevention’ we have. Alarm systems are nice, but can be interfered with. Our dogs barking will scare most any would-be thief!
Same here! Milo stays outside most of the day, as he prefers it but come night he is most definitely the security system.
As soon as possible, I installed a gate across the driveway. Entry is accessed by a key code which is given out sparingly. I’ve had an alarm system for 3 years and was over the moon happy to throw them to the curb when the contract ran out. An alarm system doesn’t do much good when one doesn’t have close neighbors to hear that **incredible** NOISE. Plus, it also depends on how far law enforcement has to travel to get to you.
I had an alarm system too and it is absolutely no good to “deaf” neighbors! My dog is my alarm system now and we are very happy with that option!