High, difficult-to-access places provide really shitty shots of people's faces. The amount of make-believe around security cameras is discouraging. Let's say I've got a Big Obvious Camera attached, oh, to my mailbox using bristle blocks and duct tape. It's got a frail, frayed CAT5 wire coming out the back with a "CUT ME HERE" yellow ribbon tied around it. Attached to the ribbon is a shiny new pair of diagonal cutters. Sure - someone could walk up and snip the wire. But to do so they need to get their face in the camera, which is recording at at least 15Hz, at least 720P, undoubtedly to the cloud, and triggering motion alarms all the while. You don't even need to know this in advance. "CLIP WIRE FOR UNTOLD RICHES" might very well attract plenty of nuisance thieves but each and every one of them is going to stare that camera in the eye when they're within ten feet and go "oh shit they have a really good picture of my face." Do it at night? The far red sideband waste coming off the IR emitters is sitting there glowing like a racoon staring at you. Every other Amazon driver who comes to this house gives me a great 4K shot of their face and the camera's a good fifteen feet from the door. Getting a big dog is a lifestyle change. it also won't guarantee that the dog will do anything when there's a break-in. A dog that gets along well with people is a pussy and pussies tend to hide in the bedroom and bark until the bad man goes away. Try this some time: next time a dog rips out of someone's house to bark at you while you're out for a walk, bark back. Stare them down. Get up against the fence. When they stop barking, you stop barking. nine times out of ten that dog will curl its tail between its legs and slink off growling to let you know that it's got its eye on you but you're free to do whatever the fuck you want. Dogs that don't? Yeah, those ones will keep your house safe. Also eat children. Only dog I ever lost that discussion with was named Danzig. Danzig was part pit bull, part rottweiler. About eighteen months after I decided Danzig was legitimately scary, Danzig broke out and ate the ten-month-old baby next door. Legit chewed her up and shit her out. Dogs like Danzig shouldn't be bought by people who think "anything that barks" will scare off some random junkie bent on B&E.Cameras are a good call, make sure you get good outdoor rated cameras, install them in high, difficult to access places and make sure all cords lead inside and aren't accessible.
Getting a big dog is also a good idea.