Door bell rings at 0400 this morning waking me up. Grab the phone to check the cameras. Cameras not connected.
I notice the TV power light is flashing red then white rapidly which means it has recently lost power, internet is down so that likely means the doorbell rang when it regained power but the internet is likely still rebooting.
But figure I need to check anyway. So grab a sweatshirt and slap on the holster. As I am doing this the electricity goes out again. We were supposed to have a winter ice storm start the following afternoon but figured it started early so I look out the window and it is just rain but as I am looking out the window to a completely pitch black street since there is no power I see a flashlight walking between the houses a couple house down the road. One of the houses is an elderly couple I keep tabs on because they are the best neighbors you could have.
So I go flying down the stairs and as I hit the bottom of the stairs it dawns on me to take the dog as she has quite the ferocious bark and will hang right with me.
As we get close I see the flashlight bopping in the backyard so I stop and wait to see which way it goes. I then see it bouncing around inside my elderly neighbors house.
Figure it is him so I call him and he answers as cheerful as could be and I double checked that it was him walking around the outside of the house and it was.
So figured I was up so the pup and I took a walk for a bit to see how much area the outage was effecting.
Few minutes later all the power was restored and I tried to go to bed. But was still a little amped.

So, do you include the pup in your bump in the night check? I have contemplated and have little mini plans of what to do for different scenarios but honestly never factored in the pup.
Never had one where I have actually needed to go outside and check something. I’ve had dishes settle in the sink or the suction cup shampoo rack fall in the basement bathroom shower but just a simple interior house check.

Not sure why it dawned on me to take the dog but figure it is actually a pretty good idea.

Depends on the dog!
Mine bark but have no bite.
If it's animal related (coyote) then you have another problem.
If they don't obey your command, while responding to the first issue, now you have another.

Leave them inside. Less to worry about.

100% I would.

I'm dogless at the moment, I really need to correct this.

I think it is best to avoid creating any situation where the outcome is less certain. If, for example, your dog was amped up, a police officer arrived, would the dog be really useful? Or, would the dog be a distraction? We often judge our dogs perfectly well behaved, when in truth we compensate for their behavior. If you had to engage a target, and your dog was moving towards the target, would this impede your decision-making or engagement?

Dogs are extraordinarily situational.

If you’re putting them in a situation they’ve never experienced before, don’t expect that doggie necessarily has your six.

Even dogs that are trained to bite (Schutzhund/IGP/Ring) in competition will not know what to do when 2 thugs jump you in a bar alley.

They know the difference between a bite sleeve/suit and a competition field vs. 4:00 AM

Work with your dog and a classically trained, operative conditioning doggy trainer. Bite work is highly specialized and most won’t teach it - rightfully so.

Depends on the dog. But yes, I would take the dog if I trusted it for protection. Have had shepherds, never formally trained, but they have always reacted really well to different scenarios.
Had one get between me and an angry deer in my back yard one dark night. Walked out, heard a CHUFF, and I stopped, and our GSD came around from behind me and stopped in front of me, all on guard. He wasn’t gonna let anything get to me.
But like I said, it does depend on the dog too.
Had a friend stop over one time, we didn’t realize he was there as we were working on the house siding, lot of noise, etc. our dog knew our friend, but would not let him pass until we acknowledged our friend. Just stopped in front of him and wouldn’t let him by. Didn’t growl or anything just stopped him. Once we realized our friend was there, and let our dog know it was ok, he was fine. Loved that dog.

If I had a dog he would stay and protect my family.

quote:

Had a friend stop over one time, we didn’t realize he was there as we were working on the house siding, lot of noise, etc. our dog knew our friend, but would not let him pass until we acknowledged our friend. Just stopped in front of him and wouldn’t let him by. Didn’t growl or anything just stopped him. Once we realized our friend was there, and let our dog know it was ok, he was fine. Loved that dog.

That is this pup 100% inside the house or out especially with my boys.
If someone comes around even if she knows them She will stand there with a very low growl if we are in sight. I tell her they are fine and she lays down.
If we are not in sight she lets out a pretty serious bark until we come around and tell her it is alright.

Unfortunately my dog has night blindness so she would remain in the house. I would too unless I saw something pressing. Good on you for checking on your old & kind neighbor.

Nope. Dog stays put and out of the way. One more variable to worry about if he goes with me.

I don’t want him hurt, I don’t want him to hurt someone else accidentally or just get in the way.

No. For a bunch of reasons.

1. Dog is protection for The Beautiful Girl who won't touch a gun.

2. I don't know how dog will react and might make things worse.

3. Skunk or pack of yotes is more likely than bad guy in my area. Washing stinky dog or sewing up savaged dog ain't my idea of early morning sports.

4. Dog is lazy and would likely give me the "you're up, you check" look, roll over and pass out.

Every dog is different. I have a Jack Russell and he doesn't bite but will chase and bark up a storm. If I were in a similar situation he's coming with me. I don't expect him to bite anyone or protect anything but the person on the other side of the door doesn't know that.

I always joked that his job was to notify me and I'll take care of the threat. If I commanded him to "go get it" he'd rush towards whatever I directed him to. I wouldn't expect him to bite or do anything but that's one more thing a threat has to react to. In the interim that gives me a little extra time to help me do what I gotta get done.

At 4 AM, I'm not going outside except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Not me, my dog, my firearm.
That's for our personal safety but also the legalities can change considerably between being in a locked home confronting an intruder vs venturing out onto public or other property or even my own property, outside the 4 walls.
The risk/reward ratio doesn't work for me.

Nope, leave the dog inside.

Dog stays inside with the family.

I might look out a window and through a doorway - but it would be rare for me to go outside hunting if my family is back in the house.

Mine (Border/Dalmatian) had no home defense instincts when we got her.
When we brought home our baby (now 1yr old) she flipped the switch & now charges the door when someone rings/knocks. Guard dog activated.

Luckily, bumps are very infrequent around here.

Nope and double nope. First, because it lacks training for what I need (exception if you've got a fully trained Belgian Malinois or similar you already know how to use it effectively and this doesn't apply). Second, there is a real possibility it might get hurt. Either because what I'm investigating might be an animal, or it might be shot or injured by someone that takes it as a threat. Guess what, while I would like to shoot someone who injures my dog, it won't normally get you the right to shoot them. Third, its a distraction, I would need to keep track of it rather than having 100% of my attention on what I'm investigating.
Just my thinking.
I investigate stuff near my house using cameras, thermal, NV and then me. In that order.

Yes, always did. 75 pound Boxer. Any bump in the night, She wanted to know what was going on.
Me, her a flashlight and a Glock 19. Never had a problem. She would never let a stranger get
between her and my children,until I convinced her there was no danger. I miss her so much.

I miss my boy and if I still had him around the answer would be no.
He would let me know if he heard something or someone was in the yard but I wouldn't have taken him with me to investigate.

My dogs would definitely have my back in that situation - as in, right behind me. Except maybe the 14 year old Shepard/Malamute mix.