I guess the hell growing in your backyard has it's drawbacks!! I was thinking you guys growing legal ten feet from your back porch just sat around singing Koombaya. It's become painfull apparent that you guys are easy targets. At least mine is hidden from the beginning and all my eggs are not in the same basket.
Go with the dog to keep people out. You can't shoot them but at least you can chase them off. I'm pretty certain I would be sleeping with mine if I was worried. The sad part if you can't do a freakin thing without getting busted yourself unless of course you can hunt them down and beat them to death off of your property.
I wish us all the best of luck but some of us are gonna get fucked. If you have ever walked up to your garden to see it all gone knows how it feels. I swear to god it's like you just lost a family member.