Dog doors. Good, bad, indifferent.

I have one and I love it, but mine opens into a totally securely fenced back yard.  The only time I have to lock it is when the yard service is here because the noise of the leaf blower drives Max nuts. Other than that, he goes out when he wants and comes in when he wants.

Joyce

Ok, one for the plus. We have a fenced yard too. If not I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't not know where my dog was outside. Julie

I only have one from my garage door out to the yard. My dogs are outside when we're not home, but this way they have use of the 3 car garage and the beds in there. The doors into the house are glass sliders (2) and the one from the garage into the house which is a solid core, security (fire protection) door and DH won't consider cutting into it. All in all I think they're a great idea though.

they are a great idea IF and only IF you have a very securely fenced yard- no dogs can get out and no one, absolutely no one/any animal, can get into the enclosure; and your dogs don't go out there and bark at everyone all day. I'd want the dog door to open on a fenced area with a roof and no-dig deep set concrete.

If I had a yard and my own house, I'd put a dog door in the garage.  Then I'd build an indoor run in the garage, and an outdoor run (un-dig-out-able and covered on top) outside.  Right now both my dogs do fine inside free reign but I'm sure they'd appreciate the chance to potty on days when I can't get home for lunch.  I don't know that I could ever have a dog door from the house that I leave open all day, namely b/c I'm too paranoid, and I have cats that should not be outside.

I have one that leads to the backyard.  I have a double layer of fencing and put a padlock on the gate.  The biggest downfall is the weatherproofing and the size.  I bought the largest one they had at Lowes and my dog is still a little too tall. I have the door that fits in the screen and not the wood door because of the cold.  I'm going to have to shut it soon because I can already feel a breeze but my dogs really enjoyed having freedom this summer. 

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.

 We have a doggie door going from a barricaded "playpen" area in our garage into a fenced concrete area that the younger dogs will eliminate on, which has a gate we can either leave open or close into the main backyard, which has big stockade fences on two sides and chain link on the other two, very secure. It's a really good system. We can keep the dogs in the main garage (more of an extension of our house than a real garage!), in the yard, in the pen, in the house, or any combination! When it's nice out and we don't have too many dirt patches we let them come and go in the house and yard as they please. It's also useful for separation, in case we have a new dog over or want to work with one in the yard without the others, etc. We can close off the doggy door to give baths with warm water via garage sink on the concrete area, too!

I have a doggie door, I love it!  Dogs love it! It's a winner in our book!

It's from the side of the house to the side yard (which I've closed off from the main part of the yard to prevent my dogs from going over to the opposite neighbors fence and fighting (through a secure fence) with their dogs which seem to be outside all the time, and always barking... grrrrr.) so they can go and potty and lounge in the sun if they want. 

They come and go as they please and hearing how much they use it lets me know that they love the accessibility.  I find it MUCH easier to potty train this way, you have fewer accidents (particularly when they are learning to hold it.) 

I lived for a little while without one and I must say I missed having it and now that I have it back wouldn't trade it for (almost :o) anything! 

I think it also depends where you live.  I would not consider it.  We have scorpions, big centipedes, snakes, and roaches outside.  One night we even had a tarantula climbing up our garage door.

I have one here in the new house, but honestly we haven't used it yet - I put it in mostly with the idea that the dogs can have access to it when I'm working from home- my office looks into the backyard so I can supervise, and that way they can go in and out without pestering me.

 I have one that is cut into the wall of my porch.  It opens into the dogs outdoor kennel.  They can only go out of it when I let them out into the porch though.  That works for us.  Before I moved the kennel to where it is, it was on the back corner of the yard and I had to take the dogs out on leash to it.  But with 2 kids under 2, sometimes they had to wait until 10 in the morning before we got a chance to go. 

Now I can just open the door on my way past to make coffee in the morning.  Or my son can let them out.  That was never an option before. Crusher is like a Mac Truck if he thinks he can get away with it, and my son is only 50 pounds.

The other bonus is, if they are barking, I can just open the door and whistle, and both of them come running.  They don't bark much, but I have a very touchy neighbor. 

When I'm not home, they can't get out though.  That's not a problem because I don't want them out there when I can't supervise.  I left them out once when I went shopping and my heart was pounding so bad wondering about them I haven't done it since.  I'm sure they could get out of the kennel in a matter of minutes if they really tried.

I wouldn't have a dog door.  I would worry about someone leaving a gate open or something.... if it wa sto the BACK of the house and the garden was 200% secure, then it's not so bad, but I would still be concerned about other animals coming in. 

I think when toilet training, you really have to GO OUT with the dog to make sure he goes and reward him for it.  After that they are on a schedule.

Ours spend part of the day kenneled outside, and the rest of the day with us - being walked or played with in the garden, or chilling out in the house.  So even if we had a dog door I don't think they would use it that much.

Ok, that makes me think about alot of things I hadn't thought about. I really don't think I would end up liking one that leads into the house. We live out in the country and there are SOO many animals here. I love them, OUTSIDE. I am comfortable with the fence we have, but with our dogs. A new dog may be something new. I would hope not, after putting up an expensive wood fence.

For normal day to day stuff, I don't really have concerns. We usually left Kota in the house, or downstairs in an indoor kennel if we  were going to be gone a bit longer than I liked to have her "hold it". She also liked the company of the other dogs some I believe, and she couldn't get to them while in her kennel so all was well.

But, and here is the problem. All our dogs were quite able to be kenneled in their outdoor runs when we went on vacation. The pet sitter could let them out to play for awhile while she took care of the horses, or keep them up, whatever she felt comfortable with. They had big runs, partway in the barn and partway outside, partly shaded. A boxer is going to be a slightly different experience weather-tolerance wise. ALso, it could be a problem on those occasional long days away from home when we wouldn't want to leave them in the house all day. We always had options with ours.

I have been comfortable letting the two outside dogs free to be in the yeard when we go away during the day, sometimes I lock them up in the basement, depends. I never did that with Kota because she didn't get along with the dogs. I worried about someone stealing her when she was younger and friendly. As she got older, someone would have had to really use some moves to get her if she didn't know them. But it was a mute point. If she was out when we were away, she was fenced in the backyard, which was inside another fence that enclosed the whole yard.

A new dog would be a new experience with a new personality, and the way we do things now may or may not work for them. I need to have all bases covered, know what options we can have, and make sure there is a situation that will work no matter what before I decide on a boxer. Or any other dog, for that matter.

The perfect situation for us would be to have secure outside kennels that access our basement. It is an underground basement though built into the side of a hill, so the only part that is "above" ground is the garage door. It then eases down into the ground. I don't know if making a huge hole through the concrete wall is an option, but boy it would be nice. Our basement stays a nice 66 degrees in the hot hot summer, and in the winter we can run a space heater on those really cold nights. Cold nights here though usually aren't that bad, it only really gets too cold if we have had the doors open alot. What it would come down to though is a secure indoor outdoor area for a dog for those times we are away for a weekend or gone for a long day. Perfect perfect situation.

I know for those of you who have been reading my posts, it sounds like I am trying to figure out a dog based on how I like to vacation, but truly the last 3 years of Kota's life when she started to get older and have trouble, my husband and I didn't leave town overnight TOGETHER for 3 years except a trip to visit my family for Christmas after my Dad died. And that we planned as just a Christmas celebration even though it wasn't really Christmas because again, we didn't want to go away on the actual holiday because it is colder then. When Kota died in August, I went with him that next weekend on a three night trip that he had planned because I just needed to get away and thought I couldn't stand to stay there alone yet without her. Neither of us want to get into the situation again where we just CAN'T go away together.

That's why I keep going on about how to keep a dog safe and comfortable in those instances. For daily life, the dog stays inside in the lap of dog luxury.;-) and we schedule our days so they aren't inside too long. They are out when we are out, and sleep not in the same room, but directly across the hall. And we take them away anytime it is appropriate to have them with us. My brother even brought his dog 750 miles when they came to stay and it was great. We loved it. I hope to be able to do that with a new dog, take them on vacation with us.

Thank you for all the great experiences with dog doors. MAybe I'll broach the hole in the concrete wall idea.:-) I actually don't know if it is even structurally feasible. If the house fell down, that would be bad.... Julie

you would actually feel comfortable going away for three days leaving a dog totally alone in a kennel?  you can hire dog-sitters who stay in your house.