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Fake Dog for Home Security

t0.vc

91–100 of 373 posts

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#91
post #69

How about barking and a door shaker mechanism to rattle the door as if the dog is throwing itself against the door in an effort to get to the intruder?

Now that is scary! My partner's parents had a doberman pincher years ago that often went crazy to try to get through the front door to attack whoever was on the other side - that is, if they were not a family member/friend - and one time he cracked the door, and very nearly broke through. He was just overall crazy and crazy strong for a dog. I can only imagine anything like that, even if only a little door shaking , would be pretty scary.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#92
Reminds me of the late 70's and early 80's when car alarms were becoming popular. You could buy fake scary-looking "Car alarm enabled" stickers for your window at Radio Shack. You could also buy a little box that stuck to your dashboard that was nothing more than a blinking light, in order to reinforce the thought.

Back then it was not uncommon for car alarm installers to advertise their work on the driver's side windows of the cars. "Protected by Viper!" Stuff like that.

I remember the first time I saw a car like that. It was in the parking lot of an amusement park. I threw a bunch of road trip crackers on the car, and let the seagulls have a party.

They didn't seem to care about the computer voice: "Warning! This car protected by Viper! Stand away from the car!" -bloop!- -bloop!- -bloop!- -bloop!- -weee-awwww!- -weee-awwww!- -weee-awwww!- -booo-weeep!- -booo-weeep!- -booo-weeep!- -fweeeeeeeep!- -fweeeeeeeep!- -haaaaaank!- -haaaaaank!- -haaaaaank!- -haaaaaank!- And so on.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#93
post #53

When I bought a house I picked up a dog dish and put it by my walkout basement sliding door. Also the pond next to my house has old tennis balls show up in it now and then so I put them next to the dish. According to the local cops break ins in my area are mostly just kids going into open garage / garage side doors / back doors that are left open and stuff to steal is out and obvious and so on. I figure just the sens…

What kind of area has a significant amount of kids walking into peoples garages and stealing stuff?!

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#94
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s also the classic: “ Dont beware of the dog, beware of the owner ”

My sister, who has 3 big dogs, always says: "They (the bad guys) might get into my house. But they're not leaving."

I feel this way too. If you're breaking into someone's home, you're asking to die.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#96
post #53

When I bought a house I picked up a dog dish and put it by my walkout basement sliding door. Also the pond next to my house has old tennis balls show up in it now and then so I put them next to the dish. According to the local cops break ins in my area are mostly just kids going into open garage / garage side doors / back doors that are left open and stuff to steal is out and obvious and so on. I figure just the sens…

A "beware of the dog" sign would probably be just as (if not more) effective regardless of whether there's an actual dog.

I doubt it.

A dog and a sign send different messages, and the message of the sign is “the resident is afraid of being robbed”.

EDIT:

I want to make explicit that I am comparing something that gives the impression of a dog without a sign vs a sign with no other evidence of a dog. I am explicitly not commenting on the message sent by a sign combined with other evidence of a dog, just “fake (but, for the sake of argument, convincing) dog” vs. “dog sign”, each alone, as deterrents.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#97
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking weapons are a problem on boats. Many countries will require you to have a permit for it, which can be problematic to obtain. At the very least you have to declare it, which probably also means handing it over to the harbor authorities. Which means you don't have it when you would be most at risk and most need it. Second, say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. You don't have a lot of…

Do you still generally need a permit if the "weapon" is part of the boat — for example, a harpoon gun mounted on a swivel — rather than something you can pick up and carry? (My thinking being: pirates generally use speedboats, and a harpoon gun is plenty good at shooting holes in fiberglass and/or destroying outboard motors; and so pirates wouldn't want to get near your boat if you had one. But this sort of setup is…

Nothing like popping deck canisters of carfanyl to diperse a cloud of sweet sweet dreams. "It's for the sharks"

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#98

I get package thefts, people pissing on my entryway, and general creeping late night. Of course I have a doorbell cam but it doesn't help. I've now set up a homekit automation which triggers via the doorbell's motion sensor. It flicks the exterior and interior hall lights on via smart switch, one after the other with a slight random jitter, to create the illusion of someone about to come out the door.

For those looking for a simpler, cheaper solution, you can buy exterior light bulbs with built-in motion sensors for about $15.

It scores exactly zero geek cred, but it works if you're renting and don't want to go the full-blown home automation route.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#99
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generally speaking weapons are a problem on boats. Many countries will require you to have a permit for it, which can be problematic to obtain. At the very least you have to declare it, which probably also means handing it over to the harbor authorities. Which means you don't have it when you would be most at risk and most need it. Second, say you solve the above and decide to deploy the gun. You don't have a lot of…

Do you still generally need a permit if the "weapon" is part of the boat — for example, a harpoon gun mounted on a swivel — rather than something you can pick up and carry? (My thinking being: pirates generally use speedboats, and a harpoon gun is plenty good at shooting holes in fiberglass and/or destroying outboard motors; and so pirates wouldn't want to get near your boat if you had one. But this sort of setup is…

A flare gun is common emergency equipment for a boat and could easily be repurposed if the occasion called for it

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#100
post #30

>A Python script kept alive by Supervisor I laughed a little. Sometimes the job needs to be done quickly and in a familiar way, I suppose.

I liked supervisor but I disliked how slow it was. Systemd is doing the same job for me now at lightning speed.
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