Dog door report

Well, after much deliberating, some of it here in the newsgroup, I
finally did order a pet door and received and installed it a couple of
weeks ago.

The training process was interesting. The flap is flexible plastic, but
it has a metal band at the bottom to help it stay closed when not in use.
The dogs did not immediately hurl themselves through it. The directions
said to tape the door open at first, which I did, and then they hurled
themselves through it. Then I took the tape off, and I would just raise a
little corner and they would come through. This led very quickly to
Queenie and Max going through it on their own. Zoe, however, "learned"
that she should wait for me to hold the corner open before going through.
That's a smart dog for you! Treats were involved, so everyone eventually
got the hang of it.

They seem to really enjoy it. I leave it open during the day, when I'm at
work, and at first I checked a lot to make sure they weren't barking
their heads off (my answering machine will also perform as a room
monitor, maybe they all do that now, I don't know). I've checked with my
neighbors too, and so far no complaints. I think because they can go in
and out, they don't tend to get bored out in the yard and bark at
everything. Also, the yard is behind the house so the best spot for
barking at passersby is still inside at the front of the house.

Q's taken to barking at night creatures, though, so I'm going to have to
keep it closed at night, which is too bad.

I think it's good for them because it extends their play area, and they
are all running around more, and of course they don't have to "hold it"
all day, which was never something I felt good about. And it gives me
more flexibility as to when I get home after work -- I can run an errand
or 2 without worrying about them waiting longer.

So we've got 6 paws and 2 thumbs up!

--
Catherine
& Zoe the cockerchow
& Queenie the black gold retriever
& Max the pomeranian
& Rosalie the calico cat

on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 19:48:04 GMT, ceb <ceb4v DeleteThis @nospam.virginia.edu> wrote:

> Well, after much deliberating, some of it here in the newsgroup, I
> finally did order a pet door and received and installed it a couple of
> weeks ago.
>
> The training process was interesting. The flap is flexible plastic,
> but it has a metal band at the bottom to help it stay closed when not
> in use. The dogs did not immediately hurl themselves through it. The
> directions said to tape the door open at first, which I did, and then
> they hurled themselves through it. Then I took the tape off, and I
> would just raise a little corner and they would come through. This led
> very quickly to Queenie and Max going through it on their own. Zoe,
> however, "learned" that she should wait for me to hold the corner open
> before going through. That's a smart dog for you! Treats were
> involved, so everyone eventually got the hang of it.
>
> They seem to really enjoy it. I leave it open during the day, when I'm
> at work, and at first I checked a lot to make sure they weren't
> barking their heads off (my answering machine will also perform as a
> room monitor, maybe they all do that now, I don't know). I've checked
> with my neighbors too, and so far no complaints. I think because they
> can go in and out, they don't tend to get bored out in the yard and
> bark at everything. Also, the yard is behind the house so the best
> spot for barking at passersby is still inside at the front of the
> house.
>
> Q's taken to barking at night creatures, though, so I'm going to have
> to keep it closed at night, which is too bad.
>
> I think it's good for them because it extends their play area, and
> they are all running around more, and of course they don't have to
> "hold it" all day, which was never something I felt good about. And it
> gives me more flexibility as to when I get home after work -- I can
> run an errand or 2 without worrying about them waiting longer.
>
> So we've got 6 paws and 2 thumbs up!

When times were simpler, I had indoor-outdoor cats and a cat door. (The
dog, at 90 lbs, was far too big to go through... though she did try.) I
loved that cat door until Calvin, my best hunter, finally figured out
what to do with his prey after he caught it--because he certainly wasn't
going to eat it like his brother did. He brought his prey in through the
cat door, still alive, so he could play with it. Birds and rodents.
Needless to say I was glad it had a latch on it. After the second bird
came flying out of my bedroom (and countless mice ran through the house,
often bleeding), I never let them use it again.

Good luck with that! Heh.

--
Lynne