The most wonderful time of the year is also an opportune time to steal.
We found on average there are about 15 burglaries every day in December -- that's more than one every two hours based on Louisville Metro Police crime data over the past five years.
At home, one of the best burglar deterrents may be a dog.
“Men and dogs don't rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training,” Tony Richling explains.
Tony owns Liberty K9 training dogs in obedience and family protection in Hawsville, Kentucky.
“There's magic in dogs,” Richling said. “It really has nothing to do with the size or anything.”
Even a pint-sized dog can pack a punch.
“[The] little Chihuahua that my daughter just had, again another dog that you think might not protect you, but it would give its all to protect you,” Richling told us.
“My dog will [protect] without training, that's to me the biggest myth,” he said.
The only way to really know how a dog will react is to test them Tony Richling explained.
That is exactly what we did – staged burglaries.
Fitted in a bite suit Liberty K9 Trainer, Joe Richling will play the part of the burglar.
First, he jiggles the door handle, then cracks open the door.
Copper, a Belgian Malinois the breed used by the U.S. Navy Seals were trained for protection and reacts as expected.
Copper bolts to the door and doesn’t waste time before getting down to business.
His teeth latched onto our would-be burglar's arm, jaws locked, growling, fighting and flexing his body to block the burglar – it was clear who won that round.
A small percentage of dogs will fight without protection training, Richling told us.
How will the average companion react to a staged burglary?
Working with some pet parents we simulated the break-in with a sample of breeds small, medium, large and extra-large:
Alice, a German Shepard stereotypical guard breed.
Andre and Pablo Juan, both Chihuahuas, a breed known more for their bark.
June, short for Juniper is an American Staffordshire Terrier, may look mean.
Mr. Blue, a pit-mix rescue, a breed with the reputation of being bad to the bone.
Remy and Piper, a young Great Dane and an Australian Shepherd.
More bark than bite, less fight, more flight, find out who the alpha is, and who's less passive and more aggressive.
NOTE: No dogs were harmed. Do not stage a burglary unless you have trained professionals on site.