First of all my sympathy goes out to all those that have been violated in such a maner. I personally have not experienced this situation. While I agree with most comments about "defending" yourself with some type of weapon, I find that the majority of this type of crime happens when the "victim" is away. Obviously a weapon would be of no use other than to give the violator(s) something else to take. The idea of a large dog is a good one however, if the violator(s) are carrying a weapon they can easily remove the threat of one large dog. My family has a Rot, a Shepard and a Min Pin. While the Min Pin is the most ferocious of the three, her only abilities are the obviously loud bark and fast movements. The Rot is know for biting down and the jaw locking in place. The Shepard is fast and a repetitive biter. All three are know for the barking and are very protective of the house. When we are away they are all inside. While there is never a %100 gaurantee, I believe that our house has a relative safety value. When we are home and in bed I have a rifle, a bow, a kitana and various other "weapons" around the house within easy reach. I live on the outskirts of a relatively small town (approximately 20,000) but within 25 miles of two rather large towns (excess of 250,000) that have a lot of this type of crime. We do not even lock our doors when we aren't home. Once everyone is in for the night and the last person heads to bed the front door is locked but the back door and the door in from the garage is never locked. We recently had a situation where someone looking for a person that lived accross the street came to our house instead. Believing they were at the right house they started to open the door and walk in as that is how it is done accross the street. That was not a wise move on his part. My wife was home at the time and all three dogs were right there at the door. He realized his error and reached to touch my wife to "apologize" and she just told him that would not be wise. All three dogs were ready to take matters in to their own "paws" at that time. Again, my sympathys to out to those who have experienced this type of violation. Pony