Dog doors. Good, bad, indifferent.

I have one in our lower level which leads out to a 1/2 acre securly fenced yard. We have had a box turtle find his way in (not totally sure if he did it on his own or a dog brought it in). I love that the dogs can go outside on their own as needed. THere is rarely an accident in the house, and typically if it has been a few days of rain, Darby hates getting wet. A con is that it is not very weather-tight. It lets a LOT of cold air in during winter. It's drafty even though we use weather stripping. If it's windy, the flap tends to open and let the wind in. My dog door is quite small, and I have sent my 4 yr old through it to unlock the door when I've locked us out of the house, but it would have to be a very small adult to get through the door. We are moving next year and I'm not sure that we'll put it in the new one (it's for sliding glass doors). ALthough, I love the convenience factor, probably I'll cave and install it.

They have some pretty fancy dog doors these days. Including those that ONLY open for an animal wearing the right collar. That'd pretty much solve any unwanted critter issue.

Mudpuppy, I used to take my dogs to a kennel until it went downhill. Another that would take my Rottie i would never take them back to. I have a pet sitter finally after seven years of searching who will actually show up and do what she says. We went through a lot with horses and dogs before we found someone who was reliable. I take very good care of my animals and I expect that from anyone who watches them. With my expereicne with sitters, i would not have someone come and stay at my house.

  But i don't think that if I have a dog that means i cannot ever leave the house  for a vacation and let the dog in a safe secure area and have it checked on by a sitter. or that I cannot leave the house for longer than the hours a dog can stay inside without having to be let out. I don't have a dog that cannot stand to be outside with a comfortable basement to access when need be. But to answer your question, yes, i am comfortable leaving my dogs in a kennel and having the sitter come by to check on them every day, rather than taking them to the places that are available in my area and have them get uncertain care in a strange and unfamiliar environment. Up until the time we knew we could trust the one we have, I had 2 people coming by, one to sit and one to check on the sitter. Julie

 

rwbeagles

They have some pretty fancy dog doors these days. Including those that ONLY open for an animal wearing the right collar. That'd pretty much solve any unwanted critter issue.

You stole my suggestion.  I even know of someone who rigged up a camera to his dog door and if the profile of his dog was anything other than just his head, it wouldn't open.  In other words, if he's holding a bird in his mouth, nope, no access.  Raccoon trying to sneak in would be disappointed too.  Pretty smart huh?  I asked my friend if his friend would consider marketing that product and he said no.  Seems like anyone with a good grasp on computers could probably create this for themselves.  Wouldn't be I though!

wow...fancy. That sounds like CIA stuff. No way could I get that down LOL. He should market that...totally. Or maybe you could just steal the plans and market it yourself...mwah ha ha...

Red Devil*

 

If you have a sliding glass door I know several people who have the insert.  They are relatively inexpensive and you can take them out when you need more security without ruining a door.

This is the kind I have ... the insert that fits between the slider and the wall.  I put it in my bedroom since I don't keep up with making sure the dirty nose prints are cleaned off the flap. That would  bug me if it was in the living room.

Joyce

I couldn't do that, just leave them in a kennel and have someone come by once a day. We have a sitter who lives in the house when we go away. Sleeps overnight, takes them out in the morning, goes to her day job, comes home, plays with them all evening, sleeps in the house. commericial board your dogs are out of the question, cost a fortune for the number of dogs we have and some would probably drop dead from the stress of being away.

mudpuppy

I couldn't do that, just leave them in a kennel and have someone come by once a day. We have a sitter who lives in the house when we go away. Sleeps overnight, takes them out in the morning, goes to her day job, comes home, plays with them all evening, sleeps in the house. commericial board your dogs are out of the question, cost a fortune for the number of dogs we have and some would probably drop dead from the stress of being away.

We do the same and for the same reasons. We were just talking about a 2 night getaway and DH's mom offered to come over and feed the dogs but DH was first to say that 2 days was too long for them to be alone, and he's right. We've been gone for one night before and had someone come over and feed them and play with them for awhile and then come back in the AM for the same, and that was okay, but just barely. 

Wow, those are some fancy dog doors. They seem like they would take care of most of the concerns mentioned here. I wonder how much THEY cost!

As for leaving my dogs in an kennel. When I had one dog, we never went out of town and left her alone. That would have been excrutiatingly lonely for her and I would not have done it. But since we had 4,3 and now 2, they are not alone when we leave. they still have a part of their pack. We are not the only part. Do they miss us? I'm sure they do. Are they alone? No, they have each other for company. I know it is not the best scenario. I was on a rescue site that wouldn't adopt unless an adult was home 24 hours a day. A little overboard? yes, I believe so.

I'm not going to pretend I do or don't do anything on this site in order to be more popular or have people think better of me. that's not how I am. Anyone who knows me or my husband already thinks I go overboard in taking care of and seeing to the welfare of our animals, dogs or horses. And for the few times that we get the opportunity to go away together, I am going to do it. If I can't take good care of, and have a happy animal because I am occasionally gone for more than 8 hours in a day and will not have a stranger come and live at my house, then I guess I have a problem.  I respect everyone else's opinion on how things should be done, but that doesn't mean I have to agree. I'm sure that everyone, if not most people here, take excellent care of their pets. After yesterday's experience, which I will post separately in another post, it is very refreshing. Julie

spiritsmom

I'm not going to pretend I do or don't do anything on this site in order to be more popular or have people think better of me.

I understand how you feel and have felt myself get defensive about issues at times too. I also sense that you do take good care of your animals and of course none of us know what kinds of setups, etc. that others have for their pets. If you said you were going to leave your dogs tied up to a tree for a couple days, then that would be something to be concerned about but I'm sure your dogs will be just be fine. I know the frustration of not traveling and it shouldn't have to be an either/or kind of thing. When we had 2 dogs that got along and could be together, we traveled more than we do now. Because we can't allow them to be together when we're gone, it makes it harder. We also don't allow whoever is watching them to allow them to be together. It just wouldn't be fair to ask them to be prepared to break up a fight and since the dogs get more amped up when guests are here, the likelihood of a problem is greater. There's a new boarding place that just opened near us that has lots of land for the dogs to play on and it seems like it might be worth a try for us. I don't like the idea of boarding the dogs, but I also don't like not the idea of never taking a vacation again.

Costs:  The first "in the glass slider" doggy door I had was ordered from American Pet Door Co. years ago and it was well over $200 with shipping costs.  The most recent one I got at Home Depot for $135.  I actually was looking for a "large" but all they had available was XL and it works just fine. I've never priced the ones that only open for the dog if he's wearing the special chip in his collar, but I'm sure you could find some on line and look at them. I think that would be an excellent solution for someone who lives where there's a lot of wildlife.  All I have is the occasional squirrel and they don't seem interested in coming near the house.  They pretty much just run back and forth across the fence and up the trees.

Joyce

My husband built a kennel (I think it is 8 by 8 size and height of 8 feet in our huge backyard complete with sunshade, a dogloo, and plenty of water).  When the entire family is out for the day, my lab stays in his kennel.  Otherwise, he is an indoor dog.  I have no doggie door.  My lab has gotten used to a routine of going out to pee 5 times a day and poop twice a day.  If he has to go more, he will let us know by sitting at the door to our backyard and just stare at one of us (if we are sleeping, he'll bark once and that usually wakes me up).

I personally can't imagine leaving my dog alone overnight by himself in his kennel.  In that situation, he would then go to the cage free daycare/boarding facility we have used on and off in the past couple of years.