Thanks for everyone reply...I think I will keep them confined when I am not home, but will get the doggie door so they can go outside whenever they need to.

Thanks again everyone!!!!!!!

James

I got my doggie door about 3 weeks ago and I got it big enough for my beagle too. Although my beagle is 7 years old he is petrified of going through the door. Starsky just zips in and out. I have a secluded back yard with high fences all around. I generally don't see much wildlife around during the day. I do let Starsky go out of it when I am not home (although I don't know if he actually does because the beagle won't go out). When I get home though, Starsky acts like he hasn't been out all day and can't wait until my beagle will go out with him. Maybe I should just shut it off during the day? I worry though because my daughter used to get home everyday at 3:00 to let him out, but now it's lacrosse season and she is at practice.

We installed a doggie door from Lowes that is part of a screen door. It is great because when we are home, we can open the door and they can go in and out as they need.....but when we are not home the regular door is closed. It was very easy to install and does not let too much hot/cold air in/out....so it has not increased our utility bills. We also have a small grass area that is part of our patio and enclosed....so they can not get out into the yard if we are not outside. We have hawks and coyotes in the area and do not want them outside without someone watching.
Good luck deciding.....there are lots of options. (Our neighbor has a yorkie and she installed a doggie door in a window instead....and she is pleased with that option also.)

I just wanted to say that we also have a doggie door. However, we got the one for cats, because it was the smallest one we could find and it is a hard plastic vs the soft plastic that the real doggie doors have. We got ours at Lowes. I wanted the hard plastic, because I felt it had a better air lock value to it. I wanted to minimize the amount of air that was coming thru it for winter and summer purposes and to cut down on heating and air conditioning expenses.

We have the door at the bottom of our storm door (my husband put it in). Millie is 4.5 lbs, and will probably not get bigger than 5 lbs and this door is perfect for her size. We leave the door open all day long so she has access to the doggie door. We do leave her on her own to roam the house when we are not there, including when we are at work.

Besides the potty factor, the other thing you need to take into consideration about leaving your puppy free roaming privledges, is will they get into trouble or find trouble to get into when you are not there. (ie: chewing on things they are not supposed to, getting into things like Toilet Paper, or other things due to boredom). Millies has the type of personality that she does not do this kind of thing, so we do trust her more.