Yeah that reminded me of the Manson Family and their creepy-crawly game (crawling around on the floor getting as close to the sleeping victims as possible while robbing the house).
That is one thing that could never happen in my house. I sleep with 5 rescue dogs so there is no possibility of some freak creeping into the bedroom at night.
Others kept talking about the dog and the press conference. I wonder if Converse brought it up because the poor older dog was living in the yard and desperate for attention, if the dog had been allowed to live in the house with the family would that have prevented this crime? The photo of the dog showed a dish of food/water in the yard, and the dog does not seem to be in any family photos with the baby.
I can't imagine misguided youths of this type entering the house if they saw that the dog was inside, and if they entered and THEN saw the dog they would have shot the poor animal first, they surely wouldn't have wandered around the house robbing and raping while ignoring the animal.
No, it wouldn't have prevented this at all. So many of us here know tragically dogs inside a home do not stop horrible people from doing horrible things to humans. There were huge pit-bulls (2) inside the Greone home when Duncan invaded their home. He already knew beforehand the two large dogs were inside when he came in. He later told Shasta as he held her captive he thought he would have to shoot the two dogs, but didn't, since all they did was whimper, and run and hide under the dining room table and stayed there the entire time he was bludgeoning three adults to death with a hammer.
It shows dogs are just as unpredictable as human beings. What one may do the other one will do the opposite and these kind of home invaders we are seeing don't care one bit if there is or isn't a dog in the home. Imo, they come prepared either way.
I just saw a video on FB a couple of months back and this couple had installed a nanny cam in their home. Two hoodied home invaders broke into their home to burglarize it. The family had two huge dogs inside their home. It showed the criminals coming up to both dogs and petting while the dogs just laid there on the couch loving the attention. Even when Jessica Lunsford was kidnapped from her own home she had a dog sleeping in the bed with her. It never made a sound as Couey the pedophile/murderer took her out of her home without anyone hearing one thing.
I don't think for one minute their dog wasn't taken care of well. I saw a photo of him when the neighbor is taking care of him now. A lot of people have outside dogs who they let into their home often.
I have seen some police say if a homeowner is going to buy a dog or dogs to be inside of a home it is far better to get a small breed because they are the ones who are yappers if they hear something. rather than a large dog that doesn't bark at his/her shadow. They did say though even though you may have a small dog/s inside put a large bowl outside of water and food dish outside and that way the crooks will think you have a big dog in case they do happen to be one of those who is fearful of large dogs. Home invaders/robbers/rapists and murderers are high risk takers to begin with. I think its in their genes. We see all the time in cases here what high risks they are willing to take.
So no, imo, it wouldn't have prevented this at all. They would have probably beat the dog to death with the gun like he hit Amanda. We are dealing with evil here and very rarely is evil scared of anything when they are in full control.
But imo, it wouldn't have stopped these men anymore than it has ever stopped all others who have invaded homes with dogs in them. I wish it had but there are so many cases out there that show dogs can be just as fearful of evil as human beings are.
What misguided youths are you talking about? All of these criminals are of adult age. I don't see anything misguided about any of them. They did what they wanted because they felt entitled to do so. Sounds very typical of pretty much all of the criminals we hear about today.
Now when it becomes dark outside is when our alarm system is set for the night and fully activated. 
