Doggie door Question
 

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

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

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!!!

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

Check their website at www.halepetdoor.com

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.

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.

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.

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. :D :D :D

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.

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

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

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

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!

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.