AIBU to leave the house unlocked when my husband is out late?

[PurpleLovecats]

AIBU to go to bed and leave the house unlocked?

I always do this when DH is out late, figure the dog will bark if anyone enters but my friend is horrified!

So no real reason why he can’t use a key to unlock the door when he gets home then?

Our door locks automatically if you close it. But we often leave it open all day during the summer to let the breeze in. No way would I do that at night as I don’t want to come down to a hallway full of moths and slug trails.

If there was a breakin would insurance cover it

My house is only locked when we go on holiday 🤷‍♀️.

I mean you do you, but why bother to lock it at all even when you are both in the house? Surely your dog would bark the same when only one of you was in the house and the door was unlocked?
Your insurance wouldn’t pay out. They won’t pay out if your garage door into the house (not the car garage door) is left unlocked as they see car garage doors even shut and locked as a weak point. If that made any sense!

All the more reason not to leave the front door open because your husband can't be bothered to carry a key with him.

So a man (or men) has entered your home. He probably has a knife, and as a woman, he is statistically stronger than you. Your dog alerts you that there is an intruder. What is your action plan now that they are in your home, OP?

I wouldn't do that. But you seem fine with it, so you don't have to stop cause people who do not live with you don't like it.

It might be too late.
It’s much easier to deal with intruders by keeping them out. Once they in - it’s a very different story.

And if a couple of thugs came in, you hearing the dog bark would somehow give you superpowers to fight them off?

My usual story whenever a "We leave the house unlocked because we live in a nice area' thread pops up: my friend's mum and partner lived in a very well-to-do area and didn't lock their door. One evening as they sat watching telly, 3 armed thugs burst in, beat them both up and tied them up, ransacked the house and robbed them. Friend's mum said the only upside of this horrendous event was that at least they didn't rape her.

LOCK YOUR DOOR.

I am in shock readimg some of these. We live in a very low crime area. There are gates on the road, gates on the drive, an alarm and security gates. If we are gardening with the back door open, the side gates are always locked.

Please read my previous comment.

I think it depends where you live. We used to live in near a big city in a sprawling housing estate and all doors were locked 100% of the time and nothing left out or it would get knicked. Now we live in a rural village and our neighbours leave their back door open all day (whilst they are at work) so the dog can come and go! That horrified me at first but it's just a different way of life.

Here for the inevitable "confused about how the door lock works" post and not disappointed 😂

We live in a quiet village OP and I'm pretty casual about locking the doors, but even I lock the front door when I'm in bed.

If your're that unbothered about intruders you can just dispense with locks and keys altogether. - would save you the bother of having to lock up and remember the key every time.

Back in the real world, it's safer to lock the door, especially if you are in and anyway, insurance won't cover you.

Well he obviously does need it if it leaves you with a choice of either waiting up for him or going to bed with the door unlocked?

What do you do if one of you has gone out without their key because the other is at home, but the one at home has to go somewhere unexpectedly?

Taking your key with you when you go out should be default behaviour for all adults (and teenagers as well) and I'm so confused that it isn't the norm for everyone. We've seen numerous threads from posters angry that they have to wait up for their husband who's out late, and none of them ever give a good reason why he didn't just TAKE HIS KEY like a normal person.

What if the robber brought sausages for your dog?

And then what? It's a bit late then isn't it. Is your dog trained to handle intruders?

I wouldn't risk the potential harm to my dog.

Burglars are going to be carrying knives or other weapons, why even risk them entering your house and expecting your dog to sacrifice his life when you could just use a key and lock??

Trust me, armed thugs wouldn’t be remotely interested in my house.

Why do you lock it when on holiday?

@PurpleLovecats doesn't your dh worry about you, alone, in an unlocked house, after lights out? If DH is out/away, his last words are always, "make sure the gates are locked and the alarm's on"

Because neither us, nor our three dogs will be there.

When we’re in, nobody is likely to come in because the dogs make such a racket. Two of them would also not be distracted by food (the Labrador cross definitely would though).

So the dogs never get walked together when you’re not on holiday, and you don’t care if someone breaks in and harms or releases your dogs. Presumably you also don’t have home insurance. It’s strange that some people are so reluctant to just lock the door… it doesn’t take any effort

U say the dogs would bark but if someone was casing your house and u live somewhere desirable even wealthy !
They would be prepared for the dogs by feeding them.poisened meat !
In the world we live in today it's just not safe your relying on your dogs to keep you safe be proactive and look after yourself

Those that would burgle your home might not be above assaulting a dog to silence its noises.

If you have a key-safe box, your husband can use that?

Going to bed with your home "unlocked" is not safe.