It’s 3 am. You’re home sleeping along with the rest of your family. An intruder is picking the lock of your front door. He gains access and enters your home. He bumps into a wall and wakes you up. What do you do?
It’s 8:30 pm. You’re watching your favorite show and the front door kicks in and you are staring down the barrels of three armed intruders. What do you do?
As firearms instructors (yes we do this too), our students often tell us they will go for their gun. We often explain to them that, most likely, they will not have time to do so. This is especially true since most people keep their guns locked up.
Additionally, if they have their gun on them I explain that they will most likely freeze unless they train regularly for these types of scenarios. Few, if any, train at all or this way!
When encountering a “situation” most of us will have up to five possible security responses.
- We can run away. This may or may not be an effective response. Heck, we may not be able to out run the “situation”.
- We can call the police. According to the American Police Beat, the national average police response time is 11-12 minutes. A lot can happen during that timeframe.
- We can fight. However, even if you are a heck of a fighter, a lucky punch can knock your lights out.
- We can knife fight, but since this is a skill limited to those who are highly trained, we’ll move along.
- We can use a gun. Remember, you are responsible for every round discharged!
I will say this; the last two options are life changing not only for the “situation”, but for you and your family. They should be used as a very last resort, especially if you are not trained or have not trained!
Security is often measured in layers. Many security specialists call it the “onion.” The most effective security solution is designed to deter and buy time. There are many scenarios for which one should consider their security options; running/hiking, automobile, restaurant, work, home, etc…I’ll focus on the home solution.
When looking at “onion” for securing our home, we could look to the following measures (there may be other viable options, but this is a good start):
- Indoor/Outdoor lighting
- Extended dead bolts – especially on the front door
- Security system with glass break monitors
- Camera system
- Dog – especially a personal protection dog
- Pepper Spray
- Firearm
Of course, we love number 5! Personal protection dogs are, in our humble opinion, the most effective deterrent. We used to own Dobermans that were only obedience trained. When walking around with them, we would notice that people would take wide berths just to avoid us.
In the five possible security responses we discussed earlier, I would add a personal protection dog to the equation. Unlike guard dogs, who typically are not friendly to anyone, our personal protection dogs are trained to be family companions first and protectors second. They are trained to alert to the unknown, perceived threats or actual threats. Our dogs don’t bark just to bark! They only respond to a situation if given a command to do so or in the event that an actual attack occurs. Thus, they are an effective early warning system that will deter all but the most determined person. If that doesn’t do the trick then the person can “deal with the dog” (as we call it). Our dogs don’t miss, if they do, it’s still the foremost thing on the bad guys mind. This buys us time to take the most prudent action required, which in our minds is getting to safety.
If you think you’d like to add a personal protection dog to your “onion”, please feel free to contact us at ARMOR K-9 via 480.442.5174 or armork9@gmail.com.
