No. These dogs have seen very few people in their lives. They aren't friendly. They are a mix of cattle dogs and some other kind of mutt. The littler ones are Jack Russell crosses. Even if you gave them a treat....never turn your back on them....especially Lyle. They are stop movement dogs, and if you move, they will get you.

My parents live in a very safe neighborhood. But a 1 1/2miles down the road is a larger apartment complex that has a lot of subsidized housing. There is often police calls there.

They always left the house unlocked during the day when at home doing stuff around yard/house. One day mom's purse went missing, then noticed camera sitting on desk gone and some necklaces hanging near dresser gone. Someone had come in and stole stuff, it would have taken a few short minutes. It was a quick grab. They tried to use credit cards but mom had called them within minutes of noticing her purse gone.

The garbage man found her purse, minus credit cards in dumpster at the apartment complex a few days later.

Now they lock front entry doors (2) when not in front yard, but leave back door unlocked.

At least don't leave your purse out easy to see/find. Don't put jewelry in obvious places.

Frontbdoor is usually locked Cars are always locked Back doors are not until bedtme I don’t usually lock whichever door i leave from when i take my daily walk and swim I probably should though considering i can go through the garage with my phone Marilyn C- how do yiu handle the dogs when a repairman comes?

Always. All doors. This is a decent neighborhood, but shortly after we moved in there was a weird incident down the street. A neighbor walking a dog noticed unusual activity at the house of another neighbor who had died recently; she called the police. I live at the border of several towns, and this was a weekday morning, so there was a big response. One of the burglars escaped over a fence and ran into a neighboring house through the open back door. Police dog found him in a closet. I don't want that experience.

Always locked just in case. My dogs would love to get out the front but they're not allowed. Once a nephew left the door unlocked and unlatched but closed most of the way.

Someone knocked on the door and the door swung open. Luckily neither of my dogs will bite but they certainly did scare with the noisy barks. Nephew was reminded why we lock up and has not done that since.

Yes, doors are always locked, except for the door that goes into the house from the attached garage. That one is left unlocked only when we are in the yard but at that time the overhead and two man doors are down or locked. We go in and out of the garage through the overhead door using the automatic door opener that is attached to my handicapped scooter or by using the code on the push button thingy that is on the outside door frame of the overhead.

Unlocked when I'm home during the day; locked at night or if I'm out.

My front door has a push handle rather than a knob, and at some point I realized a bear could easily push it down and open the door. The front porch has had bear visitors before. So now I lock that door earlier in the evening during the months when bears are active.

I should have said, yes we lock our doors, but not the walk-in-vault. haha Why have a walk-in-vault if you leave the door open...right? ☺

When I lived in a city, my former SIL was gardening in the front yard when a new neighbor out walking stopped to chat. As the conversation droned on and on, she dropped her clippers and ran into the house, and caught the "neighbor's" partner upstairs going through her jewelry box. The partner had come in her unlocked back door. SIL was a cop and handily captured the partner, altho he yelled enough that the chatting "neighbor" was able to run off. He was later caught as they got the name from the one already in jail. And no, he wasn't really a neighbor.

Taught me not to leave both doors unlocked, even in a safe neighborhood.

Here, I'm in the boonies. Alarms alert me to someone coming down the driveway as there are no windows on that side of the house. Front door is not locked when I'm up, but always locked when I leave or go to sleep.

I have always erred on the side of caution, even in my younger days.

Our doors are always locked, and garage doors down and vehicles locked. One reason for the doors being down is to deter unwanted critters from wandering in. Found a snake skin in there once when I was cleaning out the garage. Sure was difficult to continue the clean out!

Our garage is a side load, and not visible from the front or back yards. If I'm working outside, unless I'm in close proximity to the garage, the door is down.

We had a porch pirate awhile back, no one was home. He stole gas cans from in front of the barn as well as some stuff off the front porch. He TRIED to open the front door. We have cameras installed, and were able to get good photos of his face, and the sheriff was able to track him down. Thieves are scum.

Years ago, I worked at a junior high. And the kids would talk about "garaging." They'd go around their neighborhood and if the spotted a door up, they'd go in and take something just for the thrill & challenge. They do that and what's called "Popping." They look for an unlocked vehicle, and steal stuff that way as well.

Another reason to keep all the doors locked down.

I have no concern about intruders or other odd situations. I don't habitually lock a door I see to be unlocked but I do have the habit of locking an outside door when I'm done using it and I know no one is outside. Because, I find it easier - I don't need to remember later in the day or in the evening "Hey, I was using that door, did I lock it or do I need to go check?" The answer is always yes, I locked it, I always do. For convenience, not for safety or protection.

Obviously not when we have guests in the house or normal days when my wife and I are moving in and out of doors through the day. (Until, for me, late in the day when I come through a door).

Yes, our doors are always locked unless we're going out briefly -- garbage, water pots, etc. Only the garage/back hall door is left unlocked. Garage doors are not locked, but kept down. We don't lock a car that's IN the garage but would do so if it were left on the driveway for more than a short time. We enter and exit primarily via the garage.

We were burgled when DH walked the dog one evening, leaving one garage door up. I was at home, in the jet tub, and heard nothing. That was an expensive and very unsettling experience!

Residents here believe they are in some kind of 'bubble'. The police are constantly urging people to lock doors and cars, to no avail. One officer told me we are like an open store for thieves, who do their Christmas shopping here in the warm days of summer and autumn.

>> she locked and unlocked the door as I made two trips to unload my car the evening I arrived.

YIKES! Paranoid, or a horrible neighborhood?

of course, everything locked at night and if we aren't home or I am at other end of house

No one has ever entered my front door which is three inches thick and always locked with an inside table and chair in front of it. The side door to the side street is always locked because it too is an ancient door with a 1700's lock on it. But the back porch door isn't locked during the day when we're home and the dogs might be out in the yard. It's locked at night though and when we're away.

I don't want a bad experience like I read in the papers. There is very little sympathy for people who leave doors open and they are robbed or worse. Good or bad neighborhoods? I'm going to bet ’good’ neighborhoods are robbed more often than bad. Robbers are watching homes for patterns of behavior and who would be an easy target.

Yes I do. Not that there is a problem but you never know. I had a fellow come to the door a few weeks ago, I though it could have been FedEx, But I think he was selling something. He could have easily came in and done what ever he wanted to. Its a scary time we live in. I will stay locked as much as I can.

Yes, always locked, unless I am in the yard where I can see the door. And yes, my car is always locked, too. Locking it is so much of a habit. it is even locked when in the garage. I just automatically hit the 'lock' button without even thinking about it. This is a very safe neighborhood, but you never know. Bad things can happen in any type of neighborhood, and criminals do look for nicer homes to burglarize. This world is getting crazier by the day, so why take a chance.

Rusty

For people who don't want to carry keys while mowing, walking/hiking......use one of these.

I carry one deadbolt key to my house, and one key to my neighbors'. It weighs nothing, and is sold at Home Depot for $5.23.

I wrap it around my wrist, but you can clip it on your belt loop.

If I lived in a house on an acre of land, or had few houses nearby and had a dog or two I would feel just as vulnerable. No one comes by you can say. Perfect conditions for a perp. No one will hear your screams or the alarms are and these days they will shoot the pets along with any eye witnesses. Bad people raised with no conscience seem more prevalent than ever. Lock those locks. Give yourself time to lock and load. Oh, and practice a variety of scenarios. Talk it over with police. They would love to help you..

A call to 911 in my town yields a police car within two minutes. I cannot imagine living somewhere with a response time greater than five minutes, and frankly that number makes me uncomfortable. Police cars patrol our streets constantly, and know everybody by sight.

A call to 911 results in maybe a 10 to 15 minute arrival in our neighborhood.

We are always locked & loaded.

i don't even know where my house keys are or if i even have any since i have put new doors on over the past few years. i live at the end of a quarter mile private lane off of a seldom-traveled country road and when you drive to my house, you have to pass 3 houses where my brothers-in-law live. like marilyn, i'm not afraid in the least about somebody breaking in. heck, people i know and who know me well often won't get out of their vehicle when confronted by 2 great danes who always burst out the dog door and bark when people drive up. if it's a stranger, they are either lost or they're selling something. when asked if my dogs will bite, the answer is always yes if i don't know you. i never lose my car keys because i never take them out of the ignition.

Nina pearl, do you never leave home to take trips? Do you leave your doors unlocked at such times?

@Elmer J Fudd actually, no. i don't take trips anywhere, haven't for years, unless it's to visit my grandson an hour away. i avoid driving after dark so even when i go to the city, i'm back home well before the sun sets. i suppose it helps that anyone driving down my country road cannot see my house unless they pull in and drive down the private lane. i've lived out here for 23 years (the last 14 years being alone) and i can count the times on my 2 hands that i have been away overnight. for all intents and purposes, i'm a hermit by choice. :)

In the house where I grew up and my parents still live, we never locked the doors or at least the back door. I dont even think we had key to that door. I thought it was so cool when I finally had my own place to actually have a house key. LOL

I'm sure police and fire depts. timed answers to calls depends on traffic, how busy they are, how far way you live and ease of access to your building. Some gated communities and homes with long narrow roads especially have been told to widen them by fire depts. and they ignore the warnings as if they don't understand the threat to themselves. it's so scary to me and I worked with both as a first responder for FEMA.

If you're happy Nina Pearl, that's what matters, but you've missed a lot. Too bad

I feel bad for anyone living in a neighborhood that isn't safe. I've had a package left on my doorstep for 2 days and it didn't disappear. I also have them left all evening long many times, as I work some days from the afternoon to 1 am. Never had a package disappear. Once I forgot to close my garage door, all night long. I have a lot of expensive power/yard tools in there, nothing went missing.

The police have posted those "lock your car door" signs at the entrance to our subdivision before warning us of recent burglaries, and I always tell my kids to lock their doors while they're parked in my driveway. But, so far have not had anything stolen.

If you're happy Nina Pearl, that's what matters, but you've missed a lot. Too bad

too bad? really? so, i've missed traffic jams, crowded restaurants, rude people, long waits at airports, stupid people on planes...i could go on. please, don't feel bad for me. i choose to stay home and i'd be perfectly happy if i never had to leave the farm.

I cannot imagine providing for my own law enforcement. May I ask, why those of you in areas with slow police response times do not demand better? Would you not feel more secure knowing your area was patrolled by professionals, as both a deterrant to crime and the enforcement of the laws?

A trip can be something as simple as driving a few hours to visit friends for a few days. To spend a few days somewhere new. Enjoying the attractions of a city, a lake, a beach, the nature and beauty of a park of some kind. Learning new things, having fun with new experiences, just getting away.

To have made your mind up so definitively about stuff you seem to know little about, the consequence of which is that you never leave home, is too bad. You have missed a lot.

Front door is always locked night or day. Back door is usually unlocked during the day, but locked at night.

Only the back door when the grand dog is here. He has mastered opening the lever handle. Our Sheltie can open it, too, but has more trouble because he isn't as tall and strong as the Golden Retriever.

Otherwise, the canine & parrot security patrol do an excellent job of alerting us to any & every thing untoward going on in the neighborhood.

I keep my doors locked always, all of the time.

I used to think being out in the boonies was safe but it isn't! When I lived in Arkansas, we lived out in the middle of nowhere! A very long dirt road to get to our place and only a couple of neighbors on that road. Very nice neighbors. But, one day I had my storage room unlocked and someone came in and stole my weed eater! I just couldn't believe it! I did keep my house doors locked though, even living there! Probably a good thing I did!

My parents always kept their doors unlocked, going in and out all day long. Their house was totally fenced all around and had some outdoor dogs too. One day we were sitting around talking and a man came walking into their house in the back door of their house. Thank goodness I was there visiting because I had my dog(very large and aggressive) with me and he was in the house with us. As soon as he saw that man, he tore out after him and chased the man away. There is no telling what would have happened to my parents had we not been there that day! I shudder to think! After that, they kept their doors locked!

A trip can be something as simple as driving a few hours to visit friends for a few days. To spend a few days somewhere new. Enjoying the attractions of a city, a lake, a beach, the nature and beauty of a park of some kind. Learning new things, having fun with new experiences, just getting away.

To have made your mind up so definitively about stuff you seem to know little about, the consequence of which is that you never leave home, is too bad. You have missed a lot.

i'm 70 years old, what makes you think i haven't already done plenty of what you suggest? i was raised in minneapolis, spent every summer of my youth on vacations in michigan's upper peninsula, lived on the beach during high school, been to yellowstone, yosemite, the bob marshall wilderness, spent many weeks on horseback in the grand tetons, spent 6 weeks on guam.

i know enough about "stuff" to know i'm happy staying home. it's insulting that just because i don't conform to your idea of a well-rounded person, you seem to think i don't have a full life.

It wasn't intended to be insulting, just my reaction to your unusual and apparently rigid approach to happiness in your life. Most aren't "done" having experiences until they are unable to continue, You apparently decided you were done some time ago. Nothing more.

Always have overnight, but during the day screen door stays locked with screen window open. When we leave the house, door is locked, plus deadbolted and screen door is locked. Too many undesirables in the area these past few years who will just walk into any home day or night if doors are not locked.

This week some thieves stole the license plates off a car next door and put them on a vehicle for a robbery. The girl didn't notice till she was walking outside of a store that her car didn't have plates. My car is out in the open, in the parking lot so I doubt it would get targeted.

Thieves are also stealing pickup trucks and using them in robberies (smashing into glass windows of stores) and then burning the trucks.

Maybe I'd better lock my door during the day when I'm out for my walk.

I'm always amazed at ads for tropical vacations where visitors are told they will enjoy listening to the ocean and feeling breezes by leaving their sliding doors open at night. Try explaining the loss of your property to your insurance company when they learn you practically invited a burglar to silently cut your screen and steal while you slept. (Don't think burglars can't or won't access balconies far above ground level.)

I think it's unlikely that a malcreant would be carrying a ladder to access a balcony of an occupied residence at night. I'm not saying it's impossible, just statistically unlikely.

I leave my sliding door to my balcony open overnight. I've asked my landlord if he'd be able to wash the outside of my windows....the ones that are stationary and he doesn't have a ladder tall enough. 3rd floor. So I figure if someone is going to try to climb up and in my window, I'd hear him.

Ninapearl, whether you choose to leave home or stay home is no one's business but yours. I have traveled a lot in my past. I choose to stay home most of the time also. I enjoy being at home. Some people aren't happy unless they can cast dispersion on someone else.

DH and I once rented a second floor condo on Kauai with sliders overlooking a bay. One morning we woke to find police out front, talking the the guests on the third floor. We'd locked our sliders overnight. They hadn't. It's not hard to climb from one balcony to the next when you're a druggie in need of a fix. Happens all the time, according to the police.

We fitted the sliders on our rental condo on Maui with screw locks that fastened the doors open two inches for fresh air as a choice other than the A/C.

Ninapearl, whether you choose to leave home or stay home is no one's business but yours. I have traveled a lot in my past. I choose to stay home most of the time also. I enjoy being at home. Some people aren't happy unless they can cast dispersion on someone else.

marilyn, i've had others ask me why i never go anywhere. i've just never understood why that's important to people, let alone why they think it's their business. i get so annoyed when i run into someone i haven't seen for a while and they usually ask, "don't you ever go ANYwhere??" as if it's a requirement that i get in my van and drive to some obscure place just to satisfy what they seem to think is their need for me to leave home. if someone asks me this question while i'm pumping gas or running to the dollar store at the edge of town for toilet paper, my response these days is "why is that important to you?". it usually elicits a scowl or a nervous laugh and i just walk away.

another question i got many, many times after i lost my husband was "why don't you just move to town?". my favorite response to that stupid question is always "would YOU want ME for a neighbor??". LOL

Well, it's real simple, some people enjoy traveling and exploring new places while others DO NOT! I'm quite the homebody. I have a friend that just couldn't understand why I didn't just get in the car and drive for hours to explore new places. I just told her, that wasn't our thing! My husband and I love to be home. We enjoy going on half day trips sometimes, but we are always so happy to get back home. I think a person that isn't a homebody cannot relate to that! I come from a long line of homebodies...HAHA!

I also have done my fair share of traveling in my younger days and have seen a lot. I don't rule out a vacation here and there but I don't feel like I'm antsy to go places.

As they say "to each his own".

My dad was in the Navy for nearly 30 years, traveled all over the world and this country. In retirement the only thing he did was go camping/fishing/hunting at first and then did nothing. I didn't understand it back then because I like traveling but after so many years he was probably sick of it. He sat in front of his tv for decades, only going outside to sit and "get some sun" for a little bit or to the grocery store. That's it. When I'd come home he wouldn't even go to a local restaurant with me and my brothers. He lived to be 89 years old. He did what he wanted to do.

DH and I might -- might -- be interested in visiting some places, but the 'getting there' is just no fun at all! I'm not sure we'd go anywhere, though, even if the Transporter Room existed in real life, (Was that in Star Trek?) There's a reason that the word 'travel' comes from 'travail'.

"Some people aren't happy unless they can cast dispersion on someone else."

marilyn, I think the phrase "casting aspersions" has to do with harsh criticism or denigrating a person's character. I did neither.

That ninapearl and other stay at homers report having had the question asked many times by others and find it annoying suggests my question and reaction were not out of the ordinary. I'm not sure why there's been so much misundestanding.