Woke up to dog growling

[hsp]

This morning at around 5:30am I woke up because my dog was laying in the bed and growling towards the open bedroom door. I waited just a minute to get my ears in tune but heard no movement. My wife was also up and she thought it was weird for our dog to be growling as she has never done that before.

I quietly get out of bed and grab my Sig P220 .45 and proceeded cautiously towards the doorway. (By the way nite sights are great.) As I make my way out of the doorway I see nothing and hear nothing. I slowly make my way around the house checking all the doors and windows to make sure everything is secure. Luckily everything appears to be in order and I did not find anything to indicate an intruder had entered the house.

So this brings up a question I would like to ask to everyone, do you ever practice a "walk through" in your house? Being the first time to walk through my house with a loaded gun I found I was unsure on a few areas of the house. Like closed pantry door or half opened bathroom doors, and not to mention the shower curtain. I put myself in the intruder's mind and tried to search in places where I might hide myself. I'm probably more worried about the element of surprise in a real situation and hope that I will react appropriately.

JR

[longtooth]

It is very important to have a house plan as you have now seen. I will never try to "clear" my house if I come home & find it open or enter & see that it has been entered. That is the LEOs job. If awakened at night there can sure be a need to make sure the house is secure.

[jbirds1210]

So this brings up a question I would like to ask to everyone, do you ever practice a "walk through" in your house? Being the first time to walk through my house with a loaded gun I found I was unsure on a few areas of the house. Like closed pantry door or half opened bathroom doors, and not to mention the shower curtain. I put myself in the intruder's mind and tried to search in places where I might hide myself. I'm probably more worried about the element of surprise in a real situation and hope that I will react appropriately.

JR

Yes, I do practice for bad nights in my home.

Single person home searches are extremely dangerous at best. I would send the dogs to sniff around the house first (Don't yell at me Compvest..I love my dogs)

In my opinion....a good flashlight (along with your chosen method of home defense gun) is a very important tool in this situation. Learn a technique and practice it so much that it becomes automatic when you hear the dog growl.

I prefer Harries Technique, but I am pretty sure any of them if practiced would give you a definite edge in the dark

some good reading: http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_ ... /sesent/00

Jason

[Rokyudai]

That is a unnerving experience for sure. Last night with the wind picking up as it did...it made for a lot of bumps and rattles. The animals here did get a bit jumpy.

I have on occasion attempted an inspection of the house after hearing something but just as some have already pointed out, it does get especially challenging without a good plan. I don't think it's a bad idea to have a defensive plan and practice it many times for the event you suspect someone is in or around your property. Just like the fire drills we would practice in school or at home.

Unless you have others in the house (kids down the hall and such/I can't speak for that situation as I am sans rugrats), you should try to minimize your movement and see what you could do to monitor the situation remotely without putting yourself in areas that expose you. What about taking a look at where you are when you awaken to the situation. If you have a good, solid bedroom door with a lock on it, that is a good thing. I wouldn't even say putting a peep hole in it off to the side and low (like some of those in hotel doors) would be over the top if it gives you an added advantage.

(Summoning the spirit of Gecko45)
You may also consider baby monitors in rooms with possible break-in points to help you gauge where the sound may be coming from. Many of those baby monitors can be operated without cross interference. You could keep the receivers in your bedroom labeled according to the room. Also another option, you can pick up security cameras on the cheap from Wally World that can add additional surveillance for you. Some there are wireless and can be hooked into your TV's input channel, have sound, and even low light modes. All for about a hundred or so dollars. Sure, it's not like the set up in 'Sliver' and your doggies are likely the best 'mobile search team' you will have, I would find some comfort in at least a good, solid, locked bedroom door when I sleep. Good question though! I'm also interested in what others here say. Lot's of good stuff here!

[DoubleJ]

I've had to "clear" the dump I call an apt no less than 3 times in the last two months. fortunately, it's an upstairs apt with only the front door as the entry point, so it's fairly easy.
I ran through scenarios in my head (you know, those times when the lil' lady says "Whatcha thinkin'?" that's what I'm thinking...
anyway, and when someone started banging on the door at 0100 last Tuesday, I grabbed my glasses, my Gat and checked the peephole. nope didn't answer the door, but had a plan. that's the key.

[dukalmighty]

I woke up to my dog snoring,so i told her to quit but she kept snoring so i yelled louder,still no resonse so i shook her and about 10 seconds later she jerked her head up and looked at me like man i was in the middle of this dream what up.I gotta get a better watch dog

[NcongruNt]

Yes, I do this somewhat regularly. From my bedroom (the very back of the apartment), it's a pretty straight walkthrough. I am on the ground floor, and have small alarms on each of the windows that will make a very loud screeching noise if the window is opened. I check them periodically to make sure the batteries are still good. Each room is easily checked from its respective doorway, and the living room/dining room are at the front of the apartment and in an open format so that a single glance from the end of hallway is sufficient to verify that the room is clear. I also have assessed the makeup of each of the walls, and have planned my prospective shooting angles and positions in the event of an invasion accordingly to minimize risk to my neighbors.

I have not had any weird people stop by or unexpected banging on my door in the middle of the night yet. Most of my walkthroughs have been in response to loud crashes in the middle of the night which ended up being caused by cats knocking stuff off of counters or tables.

[mr surveyor]

I agree with jbird about sending the dog to the "front line". If the dog sensed something, the dog oughta be able to locate it...if it's not just an "air booger". On the other hand, my dobie on the bed is more like the description put forth by Dukalmighty, she occassionally expends the energy to growl in her sleep if you push her too hard

[lws380]

hsp,
Do you have a house alarm? Just curious, sounds like you do not. We set our at night on instant. All exterior doors and windows are covered and so is the garage door. Glass breakage monitors are in all the rooms. You can even turn off the motion detectors in the instant mode which is good for dogs and people getting up during the night.

If someone gets in my house my alarm will let me know. This helps eliminate clearing a house because you may have heard something. I'm a firm believer in a good alarm system. If you come home the alarm will help you know that your house is secure before you enter.

[Jeff B.]

Great point... I've had two late teenagers/ 20 year olds coming and going. The dogs are a great first line. We've got a big 'un and a small one, and they pretty much work as a team. Sometimes, though, I've gotten up, made my way to some spot in the house and waited to see just what was going on. I must admit that it scares the you know what out of kids when you appear from "nowhere". In view of the discussion, you should be able to move around your house in almost complete blackout, and be comfortable in those movements...

Jeff B.

[hsp]

Thanks for all the good information. Yes we do have an alarm but I have 2 kids (20 & 21) that are still living in the house and come home late. So the instant arm on the alarm is not a viable option. Plus I have a cat that is a nite owl and likes to roam the house while we sleep so I'm sure the IR sensor would trip.

This was the first time I've ever heard our dog growl at night and not want to leave the bed. I thought for sure that she had seen someone and was trying to stand her ground to protect us while at the same time perhaps if someone had been in the house they were trying to figure out how to deal with the dog growling.

I'm just glad that the situation turned out to be nothing. I'm probably going to invest in a rail mounted light for my Sig P220 .45 as it would have come in handy searching the house. However, I'm worried it might also give my location away too. I also had a 12 gauge shotgun I could have carried around the house, but I'm almost convinced that it would have been hard to manage while opening doors and searching around corners. Our utility room is right next to our master bedroom and that is where I had suspected someone was hiding since the dog was growling. There is no way I could have used the shotgun in that situation.

I do plan on practicing more or less clearing the house so I can be ready incase the situation comes to play again. But I agree with the post up above that if I ever come home to find the house breached, then I will let the LEO's clear it before I attempt anything else. But when you are already in the house I guess you have no choice. I have to admit it was very nerve racking to say the least.

JR