Difficult House Layout - Need Advice

[Thunder71]

Our home is a rambler style, 2 bedrooms upstairs and 2 bedrooms downstairs.

My wife and I are on the main level with our 3 year old son across the hall, our 2 daughters are in the lower level which has a walkout basement.

Before I started carrying I never really gave it too much thought, but now that I'm trying to come up with ways to react to break-in scenarios I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

There's essentially 4 main points of entrance:
1. Front Door (main level)
2. Garage Door (main level)
3. Rear patio door (main level/to deck)
4. Rear patio door (lower level)

Then of course the lower level bedroom windows.

What would you folks recommend? I've got nothing!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ZX9RCAM]

Big dog....best line of first defense!

[Hopyard]

I have a different layout but it is also almost impossible to figure out how to defend or even how to best protect it with alarms and other devices. Dogs can be an awful nuisance and expense but they are a best line of defense. Put alarms on your kids windows at least so no one can get in that way. Either put alarms on your doors or bars, or both.

And keep in mind there is no such things as perfect. Just do what you reasonably can do with the situation you have. Plant thorny bushes and shrubs beneath each exterior window.

[Thunder71]

That thorny bushes idea is incredible! Never would have thought of that one!

[MadlyAlive]

Big dog....best line of first defense!

+1. And a good alarm system with a loud siren.

[INccwchris]

move the little ladys upstairs and you, wife, and son downstairs, this way instead of having to clear down to where the intruders are with your daughters, you clear up to the high ground and get to them that way. Then establish one of their rooms as the safe room. Alarms on each door and window with wire mesh screens bolted into each exterior window, not gonna stop a knife, but will slow down the baddies entry. Also shrubs or trees under the windows and a dog to roam the house. you can even install a few fake cameras as a deturrent. I will also suggest a deadbolt lock on every entry door with a locking chain and a locking door knob as a back up. Fence in the yard so as to prevent people from just wondering in, it can even help in a defensive situation in court because they cant say they just wandered onto the property and were looking around.

[QKShooter]

I would get motion detectors covering the immediate outside perimeter of the home.
They are not that expensive and they will buy you some extra time and will alert you before an actual ingress takes place.
They will also let you know if there is a Peeping Tom nosing around out there.