Something to consider...

[baggss]

Need to learn your dogs barks. My dogs have different sound to their bark for strangers, people they know, animals(deer, cats, other dogs, etc... If you pay attention you'll get to where you can tell the difference in bark and what they barking at.

My wife has told me the same thing. I have noticed variances at times but not enough that I can pick up on it all the time.

You left out a pretty important bit of information. Shame on me for biting on this one. In your OP, you could easily have said, "I always lock my door at night." Which means, somebody had a key trying to get in. An intruder would not have stuck around with the porch light on and noise inside; an intruder would not have stuck around with dogs barking (easier targets elsewhere).

Which means, not an intruder at all.

Perhaps, but at the time it was happening I didn't realize it wasn't an intruder, at least not until I actually knew it was my dog sitter. Yes, I always lock my doors at night, right up until for some reason I don't, it's happened once or twice. You don't realize it until you go to unlock it the next day and realize it's already unlocked. That being said, I don't regularly use my front door so it's almost always locked.

[cannon]

Similar situation here. Two German Shepherds in the 100 lb range and a puppy GS at around 60 lbs.

What would I do?

Go back to the bedroom and wake my menopausal wife and go back to bed.

250ish lbs of German Shepherd and one menopausal/crazy wife can handle anything coming through the door. Whatever is left. I can clean up in the morning.

Or when woken with dogs in our rural area. I'd grab the bedside pistol and take with me and still let the dogs do him in.

Less explaining and grief if dogs eat an intruder as opposed to me shooting them.

[CandG]

I would immediately bolt back to the bedroom, grab a pistol and hand it to the wife and have her stay put and have 911 ready to dial (but not dial yet until I know it's really an emergency), take shotgun back to the kitchen and point it at the front door (safety still on, finger off trigger) and wait for what happens next.

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst, I always say.

It could be nothing life threatening. An in-law who came over unannounced because they didn't want to call first and wake us up. A drunk neighbor who thought it was his own house. An animal scratching at the door handle trying to get to my barking dogs. So I wouldn't want to put myself in a situation where I get overzealous and shoot something/someone that I shouldn't, but I want to be as ready as I can to shoot if it's necessary, but also ready to drrop/hide the shotgun quickly in case it wasn't needed, so as to minimize the chance that someone gets a heart attack or PTSD.

The consequences that come from me potentially pointing a shotgun at someone who doesn't deserve it, I'll worry about later. They should have known that if they come in to an unoccupied house at night, unannounced, they might get a gun pointed at them. A valuable lesson that could save them from getting shot someday at someone else's house.




ETA: just read your second half of the story, and I'm really not sure it would change what I did in that scenario, even knowing now, in hindsight, that they legitimately thought it was OK to enter the home unannounced. I'd try to save the relationship with the dog-sitter later by coming up with a plan, going forward, to avoid such things in the future. Like, ring the doorbell twice to make sure nobody is home before entering.

[Jimmy's]

I would have fed the dogs and grabbed a bowl of Frosted flakes for myself.

[GW]

I'D loudly rack my double barrel shotgun, fire 2 blasts through the door and go back to bed.

[Snoopy47]

Got to be careful about blowing holes in people that walk in to your home through an unlocked door.

EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had nearly exact same situation happen at 02:30 one day.

Prior to that only a few hours at 00:30 one of the dogs goes into seizures, and is kicking the wall heater grill, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF IS THAT HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get the ailing dog under control, clean up all the urine she let lose during the process. Finally get back to sleep. I am very much on edge.

Fast forward to 02:30

We have electronic access lock on the front door. However, there is a manual dead bolt as well. I hear a Beep, Beep, Beep...... it wakes me so I don't know what it is (someone entering the door code) at first I thought it was a dream. Wife is out of town. She texted me around 10pm before I went to bed, and she's across the country (IT IS NOT HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Then I hear the CLANK of someone trying top OPEN THE DOOR AND BEING STOPPED BY THE DEAD BOLT.

O-M-G

This made me rethink my gun access SOP since at the time I didn't keep a loaded gun. Now I do.

I get up, and TURN ON ALL THE LIGHTS in the hall and living room. I maintain about 15 feet from the door because I'm not armed and need to retreat if I have to.

THE DOOR IS OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! only as far as the dead bolt will allow (it's like the hotel latches so it can open about 2 inches)

I've already decided in my head if I see fingers trying and fiddle with the dead bolt I will CHARGE THE DOOR AND SLAM IT ON THEM (CRUSHING THEIR FINGERS) with all my weight.

It doesn't get to that, but I yell at the front door in my most vulgar voice and volume I can muster.

WHO THE FOK IS THERE?????????????????


***********

Turns out it was a friend of my wife's. They were in town for a few days for a conference and was given the access code to stay the night.

NO ONE TOLD ME!!!!!!!!!!!!! Otherwise I would have left the deadbolt unlocked.

***********

I realized I lucked out I didn't need a gun, but if I did I didn't have it at the time.

Now I have a quick access pistol ready with a loaded magazine (not chambered) with a laser dot. So I have to be awake enough to snap out of it, open the safe, and rack the slide.

[OlderThanDirt]

Cameras and motion/thermal sensors are your friends. I can dismiss 99% of my perceived threats without getting out of bed. For the 1%, I slip on NVGs, grab a gun and lurk in the shadows. Let technology work for you and avoid any uncertainty in your threat level.

[smashycrashy]

Now I have a quick access pistol ready with a loaded magazine (not chambered) with a laser dot. So I have to be awake enough to snap out of it, open the safe, and rack the slide.

Why wouldn’t you have it chambered? Whenever I hear something like that it indicates someone not confident with firearms.

I’d also have a light not a laser on said pistol.

[protohyp]

I have 3 dogs. mostly pitbulls but although their bark is menacing they're actually the licking committee as soon as you walk through the door provided we are actually there to let them know all is good. If we aren't then they will take care of business.

First of all I believe your first mistake was leaving your wife with her *%&$! in her hand either still sleeping or unaware that you're out investigating. A simple call by either of you to 911 to initiate contact is fine. "I hear something out front....I see the door opening....oh wait...its nothing. Sorry good night" or the other scenario but at least they know you're protecting your property and you are armed.

The dog will alert you if anything is REALLY wrong be either bark turning into bite sounds so listen for that. But at least your wife won't be alone and you can protect both her and yourself by being in a house that YOU know and the intruder doesnt. If you have kids then they are your first priority in which case your wife should be awake with her firearm in her hand and phone in the other and you should have CLEAR communication rules so that if the SHTF she knows its you AND the kids walking through the door and not the intruder.

All these people that say "go find out what it is with your gun and flashlight" need a reality check on their plan. You do not leave your loved one in the dark so to speak. There is one thing that you can control and that is the door to the bedroom assuming you have one door into your bedroom. Flashlight into the eyes with clear communication that you will fire if they approach and that the police are on their way is plenty especially if 911 can hear it on the other side of the phone. You're establishing grounds for a justified shoot.

This is not the scenario to test your tactics of clearing a house by using what you learn in some class or saw on TV. you are NOT clearing a house. you're protecting your loved ones and yourself.

My advice if this scenario scared your wife enough is to sit down with her and come up with a plan. and again that plan should be stay by her side. Have a trauma kit and know how to use it. With the cops being 20 minutes out the paramedics are twice that time if not more out. Establish communication signals, verbal commands, etc with your wife so she knows she's talking to the right person and visa versa. and please please please...never leave her alone in bed sleeping. when they're done with you. they WILL go to work on her. That something you want to happen?

[Neil McCauley]

[LAKA90034]

I'd yell out something ("Can I help you with something" or just "Hey") and hit a light.. while heading towards the nearest firearm. If I could get the dogs to bark more I'd do so (training dependent).

Very few (like zero) burglars are going to go forward once detected. The ones that do are either drunk (mistaken address) or high. I'm fine with giving up a "tactical advantage" of surprise if it means the people go away without a shot fired. Since I would be falling back from the location I verbalized it isn't giving up much.

It could be any number of things, I once had a deer hit my front door .. I was in an apartment on the second floor.. and a deer got spooked, ran up the stairs and hit my door.. no reasonable way to think the thing that just pounded on your front door was a deer.. but it was. If I had kids away at college... perhaps one came home for some reason.. drunken mistake address.. etc..

Verbalize, hit a light, fallback, get a gun.. have the misses call 911 if it continued. Every bullet has a lawsuit attached, I don't have to stop the intruder at the door (especially with dogs).

[wpod]

We now live rural. So 911 call response could be 30 minutes. A call to neighbors has a small army assembled in a few minutes as would the sounds of self-defense.
Wife is ex, now once again, LEO.
I love living back in AZ.

Come on, make California great again.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[smashycrashy]

[plumbum]

Make noise?

[kmas]

Was this a dream?

Why wouldn't you have your gun in your hand if it wasn't a dream ?