The most likely scenario would involve the dog barking and the burglar moving on to another house. 

If they smoke outside and toss a cigarette butt into the bark dust or into a planter, it could cause a fire.  

I found the dog a month later when I drove by (there was a "beware of dog sign" and the dog kept barking at me when I approached the gate to take a photo).

I spend most of my time bidding against some kid with a cell phone barking in his ear.There are very few of the real investors who even want anyone to know they exist.

They sat on tree branches and barked at me all Summer.

I like you got approval for converting my California water-sucking landscape to xeriscape with drought tolerant plants, dry creek bed, etc. 2 years later the HOA has decided that not enough of the "dirt" is covered so they had the gardeners dump bark all over the yard including the existing ground cover.

I wrote him back saying I have an elderly women 72 years old, as well as a pregnant woman in her 40s go up and down those stairs twice a day without incident and to go bark up another tree.

Point is, do not call a "cat" a "dog" just because it barked.

So, if you're looking for motivated note sellers, I think you're barking up the wrong tree by targeting private mortgage lenders.

In short, most note buyers wanted a 20% to 30% discount on REAL ESTATE, and started barking up the tree of 40% to 50% to even start to consider mobile homes.