Short of a severe earthquake or maybe a fireworks display, my bag of fur isn't getting up at 4am. So to answer your question, 'No', I'd explore all bumps in the night by myself.

My dog is well trained and absolutely comes with me on every "adventure".

He will alert me to said bumps, and rip a new one in the source of said bumps if I give him the command.

Definitely. My doberman was in my backyard as someone was rummaging through my powerboat next to my house at 2:00 in the morning. Boat is accessed through the front of the house through a gate. I went out the front door 20 feet to the gate and my dog beat me to the burglar going through the back gate and a 100'. After my wife let her out. Listing to that creep beg me to call my dog off was the best. She had him pinned on the ground begging for mercy.

quote:

Originally posted by Rev. A. J. Forsyth:
My dog is well trained and absolutely comes with me on every "adventure".

He will alert me to said bumps, and rip a new one in the source of said bumps if I give him the command.

Exactly. She never left my side. We would die for each other.

Don’t currently have a dog that would be appropriate to take along for a “bump in the night”. The only thing I’d go outside to investigate these days would be the coyotes totally going off if it sounded like they might be causing problems for the goats and the guardian dog(s) with them. That might call for a ballistic response, but it wouldn’t call from bringing another dog along.

Back when we had an appropriate dog, he did get to investigate a fellow prowling by the front gate. That was fun. Went down, didn’t see anyone. Waited for the gate to close, then went as far as the first corner each direction. Nope, I don’t think he could have gotten farther than where I can see he wasn’t. Back to the gate, dropped the tailgate, and told the dog Voran. He cruised around a bit, then caught the guys scent (he was hiding under an Italian Stone pine by the road just across the drainage). Dog started to go off. Told him Gib loud, then said, “Good boy, eat him! Get him!” etc. Of course, beyond “Good boy”, none of that meant anything to the dog, so he just kept sounding ferocious. The guy previously hiding under the tree understood the words though, and the way he beat feet, his shoes were probably smoking.

Our 5 acres has an underground wire around the edge, the dog knows exactly where the line is, I trained her. We’re in an ultr-low crime area, don’t tell anyone.

With us it’s mostly critters, the one I worry about is skunks in warmer weather.

Yes I realize I don’t have a trained police dog, still she likes to play the role of watchdog. I’m not saying she’ll do any more than bark, but you taint hiding from her. She’s rather suspicious of strangers.

I wouldn’t feel at all like I’m putting her safety in jeopardy, I’ll be there too. Without a doubt I would let her check things out, do routinely.

If I left the property, wouldn’t mind taking her on the leash.

My dogs are alarm bells. They can’t be trusted to be anything else, but they can both hear a gnat fart in a bush across the road. As they’re both loud mouths, that’s a deterrent worth their food and lodging.

Our dog is hyper vigilant and will bark/howl when he hears or sees anything/anyone outdoors. In that regard he is great as he alerts us (albeit with many false alarms). His bark/howl sounds quite intimidating when heard from outside the house. But that is where it ends as he is all bark and no bite (he's a lover not a fighter). If I go out to investigate he stays inside.

My dog is a poor excuse for a dog…he only barks at butterflies, buzzards, other dogs and cats… not humans.

Although he is scary intimidating. He won’t be used in home defense planning

Yes, ours are simple early warning radar that allow us to share their bed.
They do sound ferocious so anyone that would be crazy enough to try to get into our house is truly crazy and would be met with other tools.

We have a German shepherd. It's not a question of whether he's going or not, he leads the way.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
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.

Came to suggest this.

Randomly wandering around when the power is out might backfire when another neighbor equally amped up needs to confront someone who shouldn't be there.

When we moved in I had the utility remove their yard light and we haven't suffered more crime because of it. And if the power is out I can look out the back, see the grid is up across the valley, and sit back knowing the situation is well in hand - our section is the one that goes out constantly. It hasn't changed in 20 years.

We keep plenty of alternative light sources and being without power for a week is covered, too. Small town life. Those "bump in the night" events are more often the neighbors dogs out of the yard or a raccoon or ? Small towns are different.

Nope, not wandering outside in the rain in the middle of the night. Neighbors change a bit too frequently and who knows if some decide to shoot first and ask later.

I won't be going outside and neither will my dog.

I should be able to see if anything is moving outside with our camaras. They all have battery backups. The fiber terminal and router are on UPSs. The RING Alarm Pro system has battery backup as well as cellular backup to the internet if all else fails.

If that system fails, I'm going to suspect some outside vandalism and will be handing out ARs to the household.

I have an Aussie that's a bit on the protective side and alert. If there's a bump in the night I'll look to him to see how I should be responding. If something is amiss he'll be up and low growling.

My Boxer wouldn't bark. She would come into the bedroom,put
her head or paw on me to wake me up,let out a soft growl.
I knew what she meant. By the time I got my flashlight and pistol
out, she's at the front door wanting to get out to investigate.
If I think somebody is on my property in the middle of the night,
I'm not going to cower inside and call 911. Me and my girl are going out.

Nope. I love that she will hear things in the night that I would likely sleep through but being the wake up call is all that I ask. We have absolutely no training in such things and I don't need another variable.

If I think there is something outside that really needs checked out I'm dialing 911, keeping the family behind me and waiting on PD.

quote:

I'm not going to cower inside and call 911.

Ugly choice of words.

Were you born to live by the gun?

Four dogs, one of them CRAZY.
They go out first and I back them up!

Not my current one.

Love almost all people hates all dogs.

Was a rescue, lovable not not helpful in a stress situation.

In 10 years growled at 3 random people,

loves the rest.

quote:

Originally posted by Schmelby:
My Boxer wouldn't bark. She would come into the bedroom,put
her head or paw on me to wake me up,let out a soft growl.
I knew what she meant. By the time I got my flashlight and pistol
out, she's at the front door wanting to get out to investigate.
If I think somebody is on my property in the middle of the night,
I'm not going to cower inside and call 911. Me and my girl are going out.

And what about the other 2, around the corner of the house, that you didn't see in the dark?
Everyone's got a plan, which likely doesn't survive initial contact.
Happened to a friend. He was lucky.