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Fake Dog for Home Security

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Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#101

Post by lupire »

the_only_law wrote: post #45
olalonde wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read "opportunistic pirate" as a regular unarmed person who might just be tempted to steal stuff from a seemingly unguarded ship.

That might be it. Tbf I don't know much about modern piracy. I just imagine guys with AKs and RPGs coming up and boarding you, but that could easily be a media depiction only.

I don't think those guys are taking single people in small boats. They want $5M insurance payouts from corporations, not killing random people for their clothes.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#102

Post by dragonwriter »

tacitusarc wrote: post #83
teekert wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many variations, near my place there is a sign with a picture of dog saying: "I don't bite, I amputate." I also saw a sign with a picture of a Gun: "Forget about the dog, I rule here."

In case this isn’t common knowledge, advertising you have a gun on premise makes you a more attractive target for burglaries

Specifically, because firearms are one of the highest value-for-portability, easy to move items burglars can steal, and America's gun culture is such that gun owners tend to have multiple guns, not take them all with them when they leave the home, and very often not have them effectively secured.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#103

Post by nyingpo »

It reminds me of a story that made the news[0] some years ago.

The local police received complaints that a dog was being mistreated, chained on the same spot for days.

Arriving at the scene they found out that an elderly couple were using a Rottweiler statue for keeping burglars away from their house.

OP's fake dog is a great improvement over that one!

[0] https://g1.globo.com/mg/sul-de-minas/noticia/2019/05/09/pm-e...

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#104

Post by giardini »

kqr wrote: post #62
Hippocrates wrote: post #60

Most family dogs will just roll over for belly rubs once the burglar is inside, but the barking is a great deterrent because it draws attention. The burglar has no idea if that is normal or not, and if someone else might hear it and come investigate.

In this spirit, I remember an ex-burglar on reddit saying that small dogs are the best guard dogs, because big ones typically have to be trained to be nice, but small ones just don't shut up.

My favorite Far Side cartoon depicting a small (but smart) dachsund:

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/66/1b/67661bbc78344ddcbd32...

or

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=far+side+cartoon+usual+barking+fre...

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#105

Post by reaperducer »

registeredcorn wrote: post #19
the_only_law wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would pirates be scared of a dog though? They could just shoot it.

I would imagine a burglar would see two issues: 1) If there is a dog on the boat, maybe there's people too. 2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise?

2) Plenty of other boats, why bother killing a dog and make lots of noise?

Exactly. A lot of people seem to forget that a gun discharging is even louder than a dog, so a would-be amateur pirate would be solving a small problem by creating a much bigger one.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#106

Post by nonrandomstring »

Beards of similar length and greyness to mine might remember this was a project, probably from the brow of R. A Penfold posted in a monthly electronics magazine. Damnit, I can still recall a schematic: ORP12 and LED + lens broken beam detector, 555 timer as clock, 74590 binary counter, an EEPROM, 8 bit DAC and push-pull power amplifier based on TIP30/31 transistors. IIRC the crazy part was you needed to build an EEPROM programmer as step one, and hand program the sound sample using a BBC micro parallel port. Digitised dog barks were available by floppy disk in the mail.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#107

Post by reillyse »

fooker wrote: post #64
teknopaul wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Outside the US most people don't carry guns, even pirates.

In large-ish cities, sure. People have guns in rural areas everywhere. There are some exceptions like China where guns are very uncommon but if you are traveling through Eastern Europe, or Africa, or rural parts of south Asia you are going to encounter a lot of people who have guns. There isn’t a gun culture like in the US in these places though, so you’ll have to know what to look for.

People have some guns in rural places worldwide but you almost never encounter them. Gun ownership rates drop off fast after the US (I think the 10th highest country is 1/4 of the US rate) and the rates keep dropping from there. Also while rural farmers may own a shotgun or a rifle they mostly leave that locked up at home, the chances of you meeting someone with a gun is pretty tiny. Only exceptions I can think of are perhaps some Central American countries.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#108

Post by cbozeman »

Don't get a fake dog for home security.

Get a real gun. Then go to a tactical trainer who has served in the military ideally in a small arms instructor capacity - they're all over the nation - and inquire about home defense courses.

And don't get a "handgun", get an AR-15 "pistol". That is, an AR-15 platform, a stabilizing brace, and a shortened barrel. If you're unsure what all this means, don't worry, your local firearms dealer will almost certainly know and understand if you come in and ask for those things. If a break-in occurs, you'll be too nervous and too frightened to aim well with your standard 9mm handgun. An AR-15 with a stabilizing brace and a shortened barrel with a vertical forward grip is sturdy, you can brace it against your shoulder (obviously), and it has sufficient power to stop an intruder.

At the end of the day, you and only you are responsible for your own safety. Even if you live in a gated community, you cannot count on your local security or law enforcement to arrive quickly enough to save you. Remember the old adage. "When seconds count, the police are only minutes away."

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#109

Post by MonkeyMalarky »

cbozeman wrote: post #108

Don't get a fake dog for home security. Get a real gun. Then go to a tactical trainer who has served in the military ideally in a small arms instructor capacity - they're all over the nation - and inquire about home defense courses. And don't get a "handgun", get an AR-15 "pistol". That is, an AR-15 platform, a stabilizing brace, and a shortened barrel. If you're unsure what all this means, don't worry, your local fi…

The author's use case is for when they are out town.

Re: Fake Dog for Home Security

#110

Post by nautilus50 »

cbozeman wrote: post #108

Don't get a fake dog for home security. Get a real gun. Then go to a tactical trainer who has served in the military ideally in a small arms instructor capacity - they're all over the nation - and inquire about home defense courses. And don't get a "handgun", get an AR-15 "pistol". That is, an AR-15 platform, a stabilizing brace, and a shortened barrel. If you're unsure what all this means, don't worry, your local fi…

Don't get an AR-15, Get an RPG-29.
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