"protect".
LOL. I set off an alarm at one of our houses. They yelled at me after some crappy quality dog bark sound through their 2" tweeter or whatever. Dude was like, "ALARM FORCE! STATE YOUR PASSWORD!"
I said, "It's maintenance. We own the property and I don't have the password. Just the alarm code. It's (insert whatever 4 digits I was given here)."
He goes, all stern sounding, "THE POLICE ARE BEING DISPATCHED!"
I said, "Cool. Tell them I'll see them soon. I'm gonna go work now."
Did the repair, went out to the truck, filling out paperwork, cops arrive. I roll down the window, announce who I am, show them my work order, company ID, and license, and I roll out. It took them ~45 mins to arrive.
"Protect".
Deter, maybe. But then again, maybe not.
Get a Rott or Shepherd. Maybe a Pit Bull.