dogs as a social ice breaker depends on the kind of dog you have and what you are like as a person. Are you approachable or do you look like you don't want to be bothered?

Having dogs out of control doesn't do it. a barking dog doesn't... Common sense here, if your dog looks happy, wagging tail and you don't own dog breed with reputation, yes it can be a ice breaker. Pitbull, dobbies, Akita, chows, German shepherd are less of an ice breaker. toy sized and smaller dogs do better. Golden we have are good for that and even our Pyrenees mix attracted people. The pure bred Great Pyrenees I had to return was so big and people didn't know what he was stayed away. They would ask what he was from across the street. And next question was always "Is he friendly?" His sheer size made him a great dog to have as a deterrent from attack.

We do feel safer with our two dogs in the house. A dog with deep loud WOOF. This wouldn't stop a determined burglar though. An experienced burglar would throw a big T-bone steak to the dog. That is what a burglar behind the bar said when he was interviewed. He said a trained dog would ignore the meat. Don't have false sense of security just because you have a dog.