Oh Lynn I am glad you are OK. I love my big noisy dogs too. I love knowing that no one approaches our house without them alerting me. While I may curse them when it is a wild turkey or a fox and I am on a conference call for work, I also know I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Oh wow! I'm glad you confronted this woman and got her off your property. And am really glad you were able to get the license tag number and report this incident without any harm.

This is a typical method they use by ringing the doorbell to check if anyone is home. They then go around the back of the house and break in. This is the reason I always set my alarm system when I go take a shower. The last thing I want is someone breaking in because I didn't hear the doorbell while I was home. I have a small dog who will bark, but she doesn't have a large scary companion like Knight for back up!

But a good reminder that I need to do some more research on security cameras. I got one quote, which was very high and haven't gotten around to locating other security camera contractors.

Good for you in making use of all options available to protect yourself, your family and your home.

If that were me, I'd have opened the door out of habit because we've never lived in a place where our house isn't visible to lots of people. But our new house has a very private setting and you've just taught me a valuable lesson, Lynn - I will be able to open my office window instead of my locked front door. Glad you used your noggin!

I miss my big black scary dog. Even potential burglars want to pet this one

ETA:. Glad your story has a good ending.

Glad you have your big Dobie! Smart thinking to get a look at the car, too. My dog annoys me when she barks at the doorbell, but DH always reminds me it's not necessarily a bad thing.

How upsetting, and congratulations on your presence of mind! I hope the police will follow-up. We always use our alarm system when we go out, and at night when we go to bed. Our little dog can bark pretty aggressively too.

Years ago we had a device wired into our phone system with speakers at each outside door. We could speak with whoever was outside from wherever we had a phone, without opening the door. I don't know what the availability or reliability of such a system is now.

Dogs are the best deterrent ! Glad you are okay. Maybe you too, should look into a camera system?

Yikes! Years ago, I was in my basement with my then dogs, and was coming up the stairs, when my 'Rudder' started growling, with hackles raised. That was VERY unlike him, and I noted a shadow in the kitchen that I was approaching. I then saw a woman IN my kitchen, and I asked what the heck she thought she was doing. She said, 'Oh, I just wanted to use your phone.'

I asked, without knocking or ringing the doorbell?! I was frightened, but more angry and shocked. She said she didn't think anyone would mind, so I ushered her out in a big hurry. You can believe that I put a lock on my outer entry porch very soon after, and it's always locked while I'm home, along with every other door lock here.

This was at a time I was getting calls at home telling me that I was being watched. It was in the early 90's when I only had a landline. My awful next door neighbors then, who tormented me endlessly - teenage boy peeking at me through my stockade fence and standing naked in his yard staring at me, shooting out the windows in my shed... The father who worked at the local power company as a meter reader, before the days of meters being read electronically here.

I had a feeling that it was that family calling, even though my number was unlisted, as ATT finally told me that even with the trap on my line, whoever was calling, was calling from a different number every time, so they couldn't 'catch' him. I called my power company and asked if my unlisted number was in their records. Imagine my 'aha!' when the shocked person came back to the phone and told me my records were missing!

When I saw the kid standing naked in his backyard just staring at me with a blank look on his face, I put down my watering can and drove right to the local police dept. Other neighbors reported seeing the same thing at times when I hadn't, and he ended up with court imposed counseling. Wonderful neighbors have lived there since.

Wow - lots of good thinking on your part. So far I've never had any kind of burglary or potential burglary or breakin experience. Hopefully I never will as I only have cats - no big scary dogs.

I have always wondered what my dogs would do if someone tried to break in or do something wrong. They bark at everyone who comes through the door, but just b/c they want to say hello and are excited. If a bad stranger came in and petted them, I don't think they'd know the difference... Maybe if I was home and someone tried to attack me or something, they would stop it. I don't know. You hear about those hero dogs on the news all the time, so maybe they would realize if someone was bad and not good...

Re: doorbell. The Ring doorbell is great. You can answer from your phone (using the app) and if a would-be burglar rings to see if you're home, their mug has been recorded on your camera.

Coincidentally, this week, we're getting motion flood lights and security cameras all around.

First deter, and if you can't deter, get their mug on camera!

I have a med/lg dog and a small bichon. The bichon makes a racket when someone approaches, or even just on the sidewalk. It is unrelenting and ear piercing!

He's been very hard to train to stop barking once he's done an amazing job of alerting us, but then again, maybe that's a good thing.

How frightening. Police will tell you that a gun is the best protection, better than alarms, guns, etc. Certainly sounds like they were up to no good. Did you give the police the car info.?

Our police have told us the exact opposite regarding guns. They say nearly all burglars are looking for the easiest opportunities, such as unlocked doors and windows, houses with mail and newspapers piled up, the usual stuff. The first line of defense is to keep your doors and windows locked. Do everything you can to make your house look occupied. They highly recommend motion lights and noisy dogs.

in a recent meeting to,discuss a rash of home burglaries, they said someone in your home is more likely to be hurt with a household gun than a robber.

my parents home was broken into several times. They got a Doberman and had no problems after that. They had three, one after the other, all named Rip. They were such great dogs.

glad you were able to get rid of the intruders and nothing worse happened.

You handled that so well and I'm glad you're safe. Yes, dogs even big gentle giants can be scary to someone who doesn't know them.

That's unnerving! Quick thinking on your part and glad you have the big scary dog and are safe. Those cameras sound like an added layer of security that would be worth consideration, especially if you had not been home.

This has happened to me before, at our old house. I pulled a gun on that guy, as he was messing around with my front window. Having worked ER for so many years, I'm pretty calm when things like this happen. Plus, I'm a very good shot and grew up handling guns (although I choose not to shoot any animal or bird). It's afterwards, that I get angry and shaky and start thinking, "What if . . . . ?" Which I did today. More angry than anything. I immediately started to worry about my neighbors, several of whom are quite elderly. After I talked with the police, I first called my good friend and neighbor, and she took her very big dog, Griz (short for Grizzly), and went house to house to make sure anyone home was ok, while I called everyone. I also belong to an internet site called Nextdoor.com and let everyone on that know, too. It's great for keeping neighboring communities quickly updated when something like this happens.

Tib: yes, I was able to give the police a very detailed description of the woman, and the car. Thank goodness that the back end of the car was facing me, and not the front, as I am not very good at all at identifying cars. And out here in New Mexico, we don't have front license plates, But, I could see the logo, model name (Infiniti) and license on the back very clearly.

M3Ds: Oh my gosh, how horrible and frightening! I'm so glad they eventually moved!! I love to keep our patio doors open when the weather is nice but, like you found out (I'm still shuddering at the thought!), that can also be an open invitation to dishonest and just plain bad people.

DLM: oh my gosh, don't ever open the door, even for a woman! Please stay safe!

Mimi, Eld, Chispa, Outsideplaying and Miniscule: I like the idea of motion sensor lights outside. I just started researching those doorbell cameras last week, as a matter of fact! We have motion sensors inside, but I want to get one of the doorbell monitors that you can talk through on your cell phone from anywhere.

3Katz & Writersblock: yes, Attack Cats! Love it!

Localeater and Texanjana: I know, I get mad at mine when they do that, too! Knight, especially, is very, very loud. And then when this happened today, I was so incredibly grateful . . . and felt so bad about yelling at them in the past!

Beagles: I've wondered about that, too. You could have a new friend test your dog out. I've thought about that myself, but I'd be afraid the friend might get hurt/bitten.

Bossy: LOL! Sweet boy, though.

I recently joined Nextdoor.com and it's been an amazing resource for SO many things, including learning about an increase of car break-ins (well, not so much smash and grab and crimes of opportunity).

Also-don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet- do install "dusk to dawn" lighting outdoors.

So glad that had a happy outcome. And I think you were very wise to not open the door but call out through a window. I was taught that at a young age when I was home alone. So much safer.

Don't test your dogs reaction on a friend (pretending to be a bad guy) unless they are wearing padded protection used for dog training. You never know how protective a dog will be and any dog over 30 lbs can do some damage.

I already know my bigger dog gets defensive when she sees anyone with a hoodie!

Many years ago I thwarted an attempted burglary at a neighbors house. I called 911 right away. Before the police arrived my neighbor came home for lunch. I told him the police were on their way and it was probably best if he NOT go in his house.

Long story short, the intruders fled when hearing my neighbor's car pull up. The detectives came to my house that evening with mug shots for me to try to ID the intruders.

I was unable to identify them by their mug shots, but my description of the car was enough for the detectives to ID them. They were drug users and had made several break-ins that week. At the time I told the detectives that I was uncomfortable being in my secluded home with young children after that. They said exactly what Dedtired has already said re: guns. Personally I would NEVER have a gun in my home, but I do understand that in some areas it is the norm.

We have an alarm with a "panic mode", which sends a signal to the police department. I would "shelter in place" (like I do with my students in school-or ALICE).

I do understand that you are in a rural area so YMMV and you must do what you are comfortable with. I am so sorry you had this horrific experience, but glad you have a big dog!

Our Billie would welcome intruders, but our former dogs were good watch dogs!

Not to speak for Tibbrix, but I'm almost positive Tibbrix comments were a typo and actually meant to say that DOGS were a better deterrent than guns...

That must have been unnerving. You certainly did a great job protecting your neighborhood. So happy all is well.

Beagles,

I always wondered that about my lab also. I thought I would only be safe if I was attacked by an army of squirrels. Until I had someone following me in the dark while walking him! They didn't see him because he was black, until we stopped under a streetlight. But I found out that early morning he definitely had a "protect my person" side I never knew existed. Another time an old man was gruff with me at the vet (another customer) and the lab got between us in attack stance.

I hope Knight gets a special treat tonight! Good dog!

Very glad all ended well.

ML

So glad things turned out well. Thank you for posting about it. You've given me, and others, a nudge to look into additional security measures. The doorbell app is new to me.

And here's a High Five to Knight and to all of our wonderful barky dogs!!

My big dog (lab and some northern hairy beast mix) drives me crazy dropping his hair everywhere but he can look very fierce when he is barking at strangers at the door, his silver makes him look tougher. He is a sweetheart and mostly worried that he gets first and second lunches lol but I love having him and our Boston Terrier around to back me up. We used to get door to door meat salesmen at our old house and I just let our dogs bark at them.

glad your safe. Sometimes they work in pairs so one distracts in front and the other goes around back.

Glad you are safe! PS, just checked my own doors. No dogs here, but hopefully my cats have my back.

Artemis, you're post made my day! I hope your cats have your back, too!

I'm so glad you're safe. I used to have a guard cat. I moved from the city to a very, very isolated place, like truly in the middle of nowhere -no neighbors for a mile or two at least, which was a little freaky for a city kid. Found a great place to rent, but the LL was very weird and I got really dark vibes from her. One day I was home and my 12 lb black short haired, siamese mix cat, jumped up on the couch to look out the window and his hackles raised and he put his head down and growled this low sound I'd never heard him make. I figured it might be a coyote or cougar close to the house, but no, it was the LL who had shown up unannounced and was walking the property with someone (I don't recall why). The cat followed their path, going from window to window, watching them and periodically looking back at me to make sure I knew there was something going on outside that I should know. I felt a little bit safer after that.

edited to correct the size of the cat...he lived to 18 years but only weighed about 12 lbs...lol

OMG thank goodness you were able to scare her/them off!!!

What a day! Glad you're ok Lynn!

I'm glad you are safe, and Knight deserves a treat.

As a matter coincidence, DH reports today that suddenly our little Pembroke corgi bolted up from his nap, dashed out the back door while calling out in ferocious and highly unusual bark and proceeded to "pogo stick" two to three feet in the air (this is a dog that is lucky to jump 6 inches to catch his frisbee). Apparently, an unscheduled line worker was up in the tree, accessing from across the fence.

We have a camera and motion activated flood lights --- and an interior camera and sensors.

Yes, it was a crazy morning! I'm so glad that I was here to actually see them and their car, and report it. I'm now wondering how many more "almosts" have happened while I was gone and Knight scared someone away. It's given DH and I a lot to think about. Especially the motion-activated flood lights outside and the doorbell camera. They've been advertising one on tv here a lot lately, at August.com, I think.

As for dusk-to-dawn lights outside, it's considered a real no-no out here. It ruins everyone's ability to enjoy our amazingly clear and brilliant night skies. Seriously. Up here at 6,000 ft above sea level, our skies are usually very clear and people enjoy being able to see so many stars, constellations and planets. It's ok to have motion activated lights, but anything that stays on all night is not acceptable. We don't even have lights on any road in our village. Anyone keeping a porch light on consistently all night is considered a very inconsiderate neighbor and will definitely hear complaints.

Very interesting about the nighttime light pollution!

Yes, we have a neighbor that lights up the outside like a penitentiary. People don't like it but there's no telling them.

We have outside lights but they are on a timer and go off around 10pm.

We are on a marked private road and seldom have anyone coming around that doesn't belong. However, DH recently bought a couple more Game Cams. We've had a lot of deer, including some new fawns we wanted to watch. He decided to use one to watch the driveway.

Our drive is long-ish and is a bit of an elongated oval. So a car generally must come up toward the garage and turn to leave on the other side of the oval or else back up and go out the same way they came. Anyway he has it aimed to catch the departing vehicle and the license plate. While we were out of town for a couple of weeks, he did capture quite a few, including the pest control guy & our housekeeper, but thankfully no 'unknowns'. The camera itself is hard to see since the housing is camouflage.

OutsidePlaying: I have an idea of what a game cam is, but can you give me more info . . . and why a game cam? Does it have night vision capability? It sounds very interesting to me.

Lynn, it is set off by motion and yes, it has night vision capability, although it will look more B&W or have a green-ish tint and not as crisp as during daylight hours but good enough. Sometimes with the animals, we only get a small portion of the animal in the view (a portion of a head, rump etc). But with the one set up in the driveway, we're getting the entire view of the vehicle. He bought one that was less than $100 on Amazon and attached it to a tree. It also came with an SD card iirc. Pretty cheap as a back-up.

We had a game cam temporarily set up on our property this summer (for research purposes), and I thought it was pretty cool. The only thing is that the resolution wasn't great and it was battery powered.

For protection purposes, we decided on higher resolution, good storage, multiple channels, HD over analog, remote viewing on phones/tablets/laptop and hard wiring.

Wow, I'm glad everything ended with no one hurt or property damage/stolen. We have auto sensor security lights and until recently have always had BIG LOUD Dog(s). That's your best defense! I'm more isolated than you are Lynn and if I didn't have my big outside dogs, I wouldn't feel safe out here. We have guns in the house but I much prefer the dogs keep them away. Right now my dog is inside during his heart worm treatment. End of treatment is Oct 1 and he can be an outside dog again. But, we've grown might fond of him living inside so I'm not sure what will happen. He would like to be both (inside/outside dog) but I'm pretty sure swimming in the lake and rolling in cow poop is NOT compatible with sleeping on my white comforter on my bed :o

DH has motion activated and night vision game cams at his deer lease. That's a great idea to get one or two for the house!!!

mimipadv, would you mind telling us which game cam you bought? DH's are the battery operated lower resolution versions for the deer lease.