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 Answer: We believe the sentence is best completed this way:

“When the Doberman surprised the bungling intruder, the compactly built dog bounded across the entranceway and threw itself at the man as if it were welcoming him home.”

The dog’s attack on the home invader is a serious matter, for the man and the home owner. A Doberman Pinscher originally was bred as a guard dog, so it is muscled and a genuine physical threat to a person. In this instance, however, it is possible to introduce irony as a way to describe the attack, saying the animal is racing to the man “as if it were welcoming him home.” Were the animal growling as it attacked, such a description would not work. Using the ironic description does two things: It plays off the “bungling” of the intruder, suggesting a comic scene rather than a violent one. And it creates an edgy juxtaposition that startles the reader. Startling is good.
狗攻擊闖入家裡的小偷，對小偷和屋主來說都是很嚴重的事。杜賓犬一開始繁殖是作為守衛犬之用，因此肌肉強健，對人很危險。不過在本句中，卻可以用諷刺的語氣描述杜賓狗的攻擊，形容狗像「迎接他回家」一樣衝向小偷。如果狗一邊攻擊一邊咆哮，這樣的形容就不適合了。諷刺語氣有兩個作用，一是嘲弄闖入的「笨」(bungling) 賊，創造滑稽效果，避免過於暴力；另外，也產生了強烈對比，出乎讀者意料。出人意表是件好事。