This is why I want a dog.

Great Dane Sat On Intruder Until Cops Arrived
After alerted of would-be burglar by dog, Ladera Ranch family detains man until deputies arrive, authorities say.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ
The Orange County Register


LADERA RANCH – A Great Dane named Marmaduke helped a family subdue an intruder who broke into their home early this morning.

As details emerged as to the would-be home burglary today, authorities said the massive dog helped the family find and fight the intruder and sat on him to hold the intruder down as deputies responded to the scene.

By alerting his owners and with his 180-pound presence in the room, the Great Dane definitely played a role in the arrest, authorities said.

It was about 1:30 a.m. when the family at Thornhill Street heard the dog barking, and then growling in a weird manner, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“If you own a dog, you know they bark differently when someone’s in the room,” Amormino said.

A 14-year-old boy had gone to check on the dog in the living room when he saw 22-year-old Zachary Chanoski going through his mother’s purse, he said. Chanoski was wearing a scarf over his head and socks on his hands.

The boy called for his father, who walked into the living room despite his need of crutches and a cast on his right leg from a recent surgery, Amormino said.

Chanoski confronted the man and grabbed his crutch and hit Chanoski with it. During the altercation, the man’s cast was broken and he was in extreme pain, Amormino said. The man’s wife then came to the room and, armed with a baseball bat, began to hit Chanoski. The dog subdued Chanoski until the police arrived at the scene.