Doggie door Question

[jpb1971]

We are building our house right now and we want to get a doggie door for our babies and I was wondering this. Right now when we leave the house, we confine our 3 little ones in a room, but I'm thinking that once we get the doggie door and they learn to use it we should be able to let them roam freely in the house right?

How many of you guys let your dogs roam freely and how many of you confine them to a room?

I was looking into doggie door and the dog doors look really big, but the cat doors seem like the right size. Where did you guys get your doggie door and is it for a cat or a dog? Is it electric or regular?

Thanks,
James

[AsCeNsIoN]

I can't get one here. But Mitzi doesn't need one. She has a human door and I'm the Doorperson! I know that's no help to you lol! But I couldn't resist

[Harley'sMom]

I have a doggie door and Harley learned to just it when he was 10 weeks old. It is just a normal door for dogs but the smallest one I could find. I never let them run the house when I am gone, and I don't think I would let them be outside by themselves if I wasn't around, just I have this fear that someone might snatch them up, but I am just paranoid.

[LIL MIS' MAGIC]

We have a doggie door, we got it from Lowe's and we love it!! It is on our backdoor so that we can shut the backdoor when we are not here!! The girls get the roam of the living room and kitchen when we are not here and then when we are here they have access to the doggie door at all times!!!

[Tiger's Mom]

Tiger does not roam freely. . . .he is confined to his domain (the laundry room) unless I am around to supervise, then I let him roam free. Right now though he is being crate trained during the day while I am at work . . .

On doggie doors, I plan to get one too and I have looked through Petsmart and they have quite a selection in sizes, even quite small. Being that it is in the dog section, my guess is that they are all designed for dogs use. So for yorkies size, they do have a really tiny one. Have you checked them out?

I don't want to ruin the existing door (in case I need to sell the house one day ) so I am going to have my hubby put in a plywood to where the doggie door will go. Don't worry, it will be aesthetically pleasing and painted like a door, except it will have the same height as the baby gate . . this is all going to happen when Tiger is fully housetrained.

I don't quite understand your question abour it being electric or regular? Is there such a thing?

Congratulations on your home building. . . . hope all is well during the construction. I too had my house custom built and although there were a few minor frustrations, I won't mind going through it again . . . of course my dear husband thinks differently and would NOT want to do it all over again . . . I wish I had plans for having a dog then so I would have included him in the design of the house . . . good thing my laundry room really worked out well for him though as it is very spacious (unusually large) and because it has a door, I just used a baby gate and so there is plenty of him to roam . . . it came with a deep sink too so that is his bathing area as well (although I never really used it for anything before) and we have 12 X 12 tile flooring installed. Originally, it was supposed to be my laundry/sewing room as I have so much sewing stuff. My husband built me a huge counter and shelving but now I used it when I am brushing Tiger and all the shelving are occupied by Tiger's stuff

I would love to paint it someday soon and wallpaper one wall with a theme designed for dogs but I have yet to find the right mood to convince my husband that is what I want . . .

ooppps, sorry to deviate from your question . . . .

[Yorkie guy]

We have found the Hale Pet Security door to be one of the very best available.

Check their website at www.halepetdoor.com

[TatumsMom]

Being in the country as we are now, we can't have a doggie door for Tatum. The "yard area" is fenced but has cattle guards which she can fly over. Although she doesn't run off, I don't feel safe about predators being able to get in. BUT at our old house, we had a toy poodle and he had a doggie door. Man, that thing was a godsend! When we were gone for the day, he stayed in the kitchen/breakfast room with a baby gate up at the living room entrance. When we were home, he had full run of the house and went out his door into the backyard whenever he needed to - even in the middle of the night. We had a sliding glass door in the bedroom so we had to get one made especially for that kind of door (if that's the kind of door you have, I can show you an example). It also had a sliding cover that you could close when you didn't want him to have access. It was so nice that I really never even noticed when he'd go out. We had no problem at all teaching him how to use it - and we didn't even move there and get the door until he was about 2 years old so he caught on real quick. I really miss the dog door times but it's just not possible for us now.

[alaskayorkie]

You might search "doggie door" and find some past discussions on this. While a lot of people swear by them, some have made good arguments against them, especially when you're not home to supervise. The arguments I recall are, 1. Predators, 2. Thieves; 3. Accidents.

I imagine if you have a secure yard and no predator worries, it might be OK. Just give it some thought. I know it was enough to scare me away from getting one. Then again, not everyone has moose and eagles visit their backyards.

[shecass]

Originally Posted by jpb1971

We are building our house right now and we want to get a doggie door for our babies and I was wondering this. Right now when we leave the house, we confine our 3 little ones in a room, but I'm thinking that once we get the doggie door and they learn to use it we should be able to let them roam freely in the house right?

How many of you guys let your dogs roam freely and how many of you confine them to a room?

I was looking into doggie door and the dog doors look really big, but the cat doors seem like the right size. Where did you guys get your doggie door and is it for a cat or a dog? Is it electric or regular?

Thanks,
James

We just put a doggie door in about 3 weeks ago. I absolutely love it. We close it off at night and whenever we are not at home. Mollie my 2 year old has free roam of the house all the time. The only time I crate Wyatt who is 7 months old is when I'm going to be gone for longer than a couple of hours.

We got ours from Petsmart. It was for dogs up to 12 lbs. The one's for cats tend to be a little smaller. It is a regular one. I wish that we had gotten one sooner. It sure makes life so much easier.

Congrats on the new house.

[mustangbee]

We have a doggie door. Princes always has free roam of the house, but that's because someone is always with her. I love the door, Poncho and Princess both use it. Too bad Mandy can't, but with her size, there's no way I'd get one for her. Mostly security reasons, but then again with Mandy being a Rottie, no way would anyone try and get in here.

[Lacy's Mom]

My K.C. has a doggy door - smallest available for dogs purchased at Petsmart and, yes, he does have the run of the house. I don't work so I am at home with him most of the time. I placed it in our closet so he can only have access to a small patio area which I know is secure. If I want to close it off I simply close the closet door and don't have to put the sliding cover back on. He still likes to go out in the big backyard at 6:00 every morning with me watching him and to mark his favorite bush out front when I get the mail. I think a doggy door makes life easier. My patio is very secluded so I don't worry about people seeing him and stealing him. If he was in view, I don't think I would feel as comfortable with a doggy door. He got used to it very quickly and he was under a pound. My husband went outside and I stayed in and we just bribed him back and forth with treats - took no time at all. The drop on the outside was about 6 or 7 inches so I built a little ramp from wood and covered it in that fake grass carpet.

[txshopper73]

James, we have a doggie door that fits with our sliding glass door. I got mine from my aunt but I've seen the exact same one here...

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...t=dog+door&N=2

I let mine roam freely...but the puppies are still in the x-pen. They are too young and although one is able to get back and forth through the door, I don't feel comfortable enough to give him free roam.

[TatumsMom]

Originally Posted by txshopper73

James, we have a doggie door that fits with our sliding glass door. I got mine from my aunt but I've seen the exact same one here...

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...t=dog+door&N=2

I let mine roam freely...but the puppies are still in the x-pen. They are too young and although one is able to get back and forth through the door, I don't feel comfortable enough to give him free roam.

And here's another site just so you can see a bigger picture. This is what ours looked like. It was so long ago though that I don't remember where we got it.

http://www.petdoors.com/panel_pet_do...FRcPOAoduE4XaA

[TatumsMom]

Originally Posted by Tiger's Mom

I don't quite understand your question abour it being electric or regular? Is there such a thing?

I didn't realize there was such a thing either but I came across this site...

http://www.hitecpet.com/autpetdoor.html

[Surfie and Tiki]

My pups actually designed their own doggy door. One day when I was out running errands I left the screened French door open so they could get some fresh air, and look outside. Obviously, that didn’t satisfy them so they scratched through the screen, and whoo-la, instant doggy door. They were quite proud of themselves, me so much….

Don’t try this at home!