Protecting Our Property

[aggieterpkatie]

I tend to believe (foolishly or not) that most people are good. DH, however, is paranoid about everyone. This has made me more paranoid now as well. For example, someone just called about my buckling for sale, and he wants to come see him. I told him to call back at 4 (when I'll be home) for the address. I don't want to take a chance that he'll show up when we're gone and take something.

We live just off a main road, and honestly my animals would be fairly easy for someone to steal. :/ We do have a beware of dog sign, but would that really deter someone? We'd like to fence the property, but until we get our tax $ back it's not an option. I could lock the gates, but they could just cut the fence if someone really wanted to steal them.

I would LOVE and LGD, but I'm not sure it's in our budget, and I worry our neighbors across the street might mind if the dog barks all night.

Any other ideas? I mean, I could mention to people that "I need to be home to put the guard dogs away", but what else can we do? We're also pricing security cameras.

Am I being unreasonably paranoid? Has anyone ever had issues? How do you deal with it?

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I tend to believe (foolishly or not) that most people are good. DH, however, is paranoid about everyone. This has made me more paranoid now as well. For example, someone just called about my buckling for sale, and he wants to come see him. I told him to call back at 4 (when I'll be home) for the address. I don't want to take a chance that he'll show up when we're gone and take something.

We live just off a main road, and honestly my animals would be fairly easy for someone to steal. :/ We do have a beware of dog sign, but would that really deter someone? We'd like to fence the property, but until we get our tax $ back it's not an option. I could lock the gates, but they could just cut the fence if someone really wanted to steal them.

I would LOVE and LGD, but I'm not sure it's in our budget, and I worry our neighbors across the street might mind if the dog barks all night.

Any other ideas? I mean, I could mention to people that "I need to be home to put the guard dogs away", but what else can we do? We're also pricing security cameras.

Am I being unreasonably paranoid? Has anyone ever had issues? How do you deal with it?

Dogs can be trained to bark only when it is truly needed.
Also, its best to have strangers over to look at a sale itme when both of you are home.
Small animals its so much better to actually meet in a neutral location, so that could be an option.

 

[SKR8PN]

Our property is fenced on two sides, but we are VERY friendly with the neighbor were there is no fence, and the neighbors across the street. We all watch each others property. We have an alarm system already installed, and are considering a camera/recorder surveillance system, just in case...........

 

[Boogity]

I have a suggestion that we have used in the past when dealing with strangers on our property. The person who is not doing the dealing with the customer should take a good photo of the customer's vehicle with the license plate in clear view of the snapshot. This should be done while the customer is watching. An ounce of prevention . . .

We live in a very remote rural area and although theft (or worse) is a concern we do not dwell on it much.

 

[k0xxx]

FWIW, you can buy relatively inexpensive motion activated, wireless cameras that send pictures to your computer. Some can even automatically e-mail photos. While I have never tried one and can't vouch for how well they work, here is a link to such an item on eBay (just so you'll have a better idea of what I am talking about). There are a lot of other models out there, also.

CCTV still and video cameras are very cheap at this time, and are great for added security. It may not stop a thief, but at least you may be able to help catch them. We have a two wireless video cameras, one in the coop and one in the run, so that we can keep an eye on the girls. We can use the TV remote to switch between camera views or use them in the "picture in a picture" feature. It's not really SS I guess, but it's fun.

 

[VickiLynn]

We have a 97# Chocolate Lab. If a stranger showed up, he would love them to death (but the strangers don't know that). We kept a bark collar on him at night for a while, until he learned not to bark at every bird he saw. We also have good, watchful neighbors (and we are good, watchful neighbors). Nobody gets down our dead-end road without someone noticing.

 

[ksalvagno]

We are having problems with theft in our area. So as far as I'm concerned, you can't be too careful. Luckily we are almost always home and we have 4 dogs that do a lot of barking.

 

[SKR8PN]

We are having problems with theft in our area. So as far as I'm concerned, you can't be too careful. Luckily we are almost always home and we have 4 dogs that do a lot of barking.

I forgot about our three "guard dogs" .....and I use that term very loosely Plus the fact that I am home 90% of the time during the day. An added benefit to having the shop here at the house, is all the cars that are parked here. They rotate out on a fairly frequent basis,plus I do a few test drives, so it would be very difficult for anyone to determine if I am actually here or not.

 

[ksalvagno]

Hey, someone looking for a quick and easy hit isn't going to bother finding out if the dogs are friendly or not.

 

[TanksHill]

I sell on craigslist and I have had egg and merchandise customers come to my house.

One thing I always say is "I have a Rottweiler on the premises. Don't worry I will contain him". I don't tell them he is friendly, or kinda dense. They get just enough info to get my point. Our porch runs all the way around our house. When the babies were little we built a gate at the top of the stairs. So the dog is on the porch with me usually growling or barking when they get there.

But like others said if your worried meet at a neutral location. Just be sure your not alone at that point.

I'm a very trusting person. Heck I met Dacs at a ice cream shop a couple years back. But for that one I took all 3 kids with me.

I think he was scared.

g