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A few years back, a man tried to enter my home early in the AM. My husband was out of town and I was home alone with my 4 young children. I called 911, and it took them 32 minutes to arrive. In the meantime, I was on the phone begging for them to hurry while aiming a handgun at the door the man was trying to break down. Had he broken through, he would have been killed. I was ready to shoot him and the dispatcher, hearing the commotion, encouraged me to do whatever I had to to protect my life, my children's lives and my property. It's amazing what an experience like that will do to you.

I have an alarm system now. A fully fenced in yard. A better lit yard. A loaded shot gun by each of my 3 doorways (front, side, and patio). A handgun in my nightstand and in my office desk. I also have reinforced doors with multiple locks on each. I have an outdoor dog and an indoor dog. The outdoor dog is a little mixed breed stray who took up residence here a while ago. The indoor dog is a 4 yo American Pit Bull Terrier. My outdoor dog is very protective and alerts us when he senses something out of the ordinary. My APBT is a watch dog in the sense she would watch someone come in, take our things and watch them leave and wonder why they wouldn't take her for a ride. While I hope to never find out, I often wonder if she'd be protective if the need arose. I believe she would.

As far as dogs go, I fully credit another stray with saving our lives that morning. She just showed up one day in very poor health. We took her in and nursed her back to health and kept her around. She alerted me to and was very aggressive towards the intruder and kept him at bay to the best of her ability. She died in her sleep not too long afterwards. I believe she was sent to us just for that morning.