Doggie Doors

[rsnash]

I want to have a doggie door installed in our new back door. It is about six steps down from ground level (but a regular door, not a diagonal cellar door), so I want to make sure it is weather proof, especially because we can get several feet of snow in the winter. The door guy just said to get one at Petco and he'll install it, but I want to make sure I get a good one, even if I have to mail order it.

We have mini-poodles, so it doesn't have to be a large one.

So what do you all recommend?

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Do you have an awning over the door area to prevent snow pile up? That would help a lot. I don't think you'll get more leakage around a good dog door than you will seeping under your door anyway, but our dog door opened onto a porch with an awning, so snow didn't cover the first foot of the porch. It does get really cold leaving the dog door open in winter, though.
Liz

 

[rsnash]

No, no awning. It is the basement door of a split level house, so about six steps down from ground level. There is a drain in the landing at the base of the stairs, then the door.

I'm in NJ, so in the winter it can and has snowed up to 3', although in that area, it doesn't really pile up against the house. Usually, I have to dig a path to the lawn to get them to even leave the house!

I've been doing a bit of reasearch online and these seem good:

MaxSeal from Moorpet - Dual flap would be $204 in the size I need.

DogWalk from Care Free Pet Doors - dual flap would be $168.

Pet Safe Extreme Weather Door from Petco - triple flap??? $75

I've also seen the Endura brand, which is both larger and more expensive than the MaxSeal.

Some sites say to get the dual flap, some say it is only needed in areas of the most extreme weather. I'm trying to figure out if spending more is worth it.

Thanks for all advice!

 

[luvgoldns]

Here is the best dog door around - IMHO. I installed it about 10 years ago and I have never had any problems or issues. One of the things that makes it great (for those of us with big dogs ) is that there is a steel plate that you can screw the door shut with. This is important for when I am out of town; I have had newfoundlands and golden retrievers, needless to say pretty much anything will fit through the door!

http://www.dogdoors.com/products.php?cat_id=14

ilene

 

[Aussiedog]

We have a double set of pet doors - from the yard to the garage and from the garage to the laundry/mud room. We have always used PetSafe and have been pleased and especially like the magnetic flap and the fact that the flaps are clear.

With +/- ten large dogs for the past 20 years who have pretty much unrestricted access through the doors 24/7, ours get a LOT of wear. We replace the flaps every few years.

You might want to have the carpenter who cuts the hole for the door build a wooden door that you can shut from the inside if you need additional security/weatherproofing. We did that with one of the doors.

Ann

 

[taffy19]

We have a double set of pet doors - from the yard to the garage and from the garage to the laundry/mud room. We have always used PetSafe and have been pleased and especially like the magnetic flap and the fact that the flaps are clear.

With +/- ten large dogs for the past 20 years who have pretty much unrestricted access through the doors 24/7, ours get a LOT of wear. We replace the flaps every few years.

You might want to have the carpenter who cuts the hole for the door build a wooden door that you can shut from the inside if you need additional security/weatherproofing. We did that with one of the doors.

Ann

This sounds like a great solution or could you build an awning type structure over the pet door? We had a pet door for our animals and they loved it as they could go outside in a protected area where no animals ever could get in or out (it was like an aviary) but they could relieve themselves and enjoy the sun or shade when we weren't home. All our cat boxes were standing outside or they could use the planters which they preferred.

 

[rsnash]

You might want to have the carpenter who cuts the hole for the door build a wooden door that you can shut from the inside if you need additional security/weatherproofing. We did that with one of the doors.

Ann - don't most of the doors come with hard slider to lock off the door when it won't be used?

 

[Aussiedog]

yes - but we added the wooden door on the inside of the house for additional weather and animal proofing. We use the metal slides on the garage side of the doors and the wooden door on the house side of the garage-to-house door, if that makes sense.

Ann

 

[Passepartout]

Ours has been trouble-free for about 9 years, though on examination- and cleaning, I can see it would benefit from a new flap. It's a Medium size Pet-Safe from Petco. about 9x12" opening. Works fine many times a day for our Cocker Spaniel.

Rather than mount it in a 'human' door, we have ours in a wall panel nearby, and even if we hold the people door open, "muttley"- not her real name- will use her doggy door instead.

Jim Ricks

 

[rsnash]

I think we're going to go with the Petco Extreme Weather for $75. My door guy (this all started because we needed to replace our patio sliders) looked at the specs for both and didn't see any reason for us to spend $130 more.

So, onto the most important part... How to train the dogs to use the doggie door? I can't wait for the days when I don't get woken up at 5:30 (by Bailey shaking his head, which makes his tags rattle, which he knows wakes me up) and instead he just goes out to pee all by himself!

Should we leave the flaps off until they get the idea or make them learn with the flaps on so they get used to pushing on them or what?