Doggie Doors? Your experiences/opinions?

[nomrbddgs]

I would love to have one (a doggy door)-but I would have to change my screen door-and then there is the mud factor. When mine come in they sit by the door to have their feet wiped if it's wet or muddy.

[navyman]

@JazzysMom:

We always locked ours at night. Well, we didn't originally, but after a stray cat decided that our house was a great place to get in out of the cold, we started locking up at night.

That crazy cat came into our house every night for several nights running; our cat didn't appreciate it AT ALL! You can imagine the noises we'd wake up to – squalling cats, crazy dogs! LOL
It was a wacky looking cat, too, Big and really scruffy with one torn ear. We always wondered what happened to him after we locked him out.

My fear at our current house would be raccoons. They're pretty brave here.

That must've been something! We have racoons, skunks, foxes, and feral cats in our area, so this is another concern. We also have 4 cats that remain in the basement in a safe area during the day, but come out during the night since our B's are crated at night. They would probably want to become outdoor kitties, so for both of these reasons, we'd lock the doggie-door at night.

[Basenji_Boy]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,294013,00.html

Here's the link to the news story…...please be careful with those doors and what can come in them.

[renaultf1]

My vet was telling me about one of her clients that had a female dog in heat. Came home and found an unknown male dog in the house (thru the doggie door) and then shortly thereafter had an unplanned pregnancy to deal with.

[Nexa]

I can just picture coming home to the latest squirrel or rabbit that the b's drug inside throught the door and left there to suprise us. We have way to much going on the the backyard to put in a doggie door.

[tanza]

@renaultf1:

My vet was telling me about one of her clients that had a female dog in heat. Came home and found an unknown male dog in the house (thru the doggie door) and then shortly thereafter had an unplanned pregnancy to deal with.

Well that is just common sense that if you have a bitch in season that you would make sure the doggy door is closed off…. pretty dump if you ask me...

As far as critters, we had coons come in the "cat" door that was upstairs in the master bedroom when our cat was alive.... but we have never had a critter come in the doggy doors that are downstairs in the 16 years we had Basenjis and doggy doors.....

Of course anything can happen... but it is not the normal... at least certainly never has been for us. Again, I would not be without a doggy door....

[tanza]

And in addition….. about the coons... if you leave food out for your dogs/cats chances are you will get invaders... but of course I never recommend free feeding, so that was never a problem... except for the cat..ggg

[Quercus]

@navyman:

Hi LeeL, aren't you my fellow Tivocommunity forum basenji loving colleague?

Glad to see more evidence of successful use of a doggie door. I can see how my OP implied that my DW's concern about an unlocked doggie door would lead one to think the concern was related to possible human tresspassing. My apologies for the confusion, but the actual concern was whether or not it was safe for the B's to be allowed to go outside while no one's home. Certain possible unpleasant scenerios come to mind:

• What would stop someone from trying to steal our dogs? Our B's are quite the friendly type…not one iota of watchdog in any of them. I would add that the chances of this happening are probably lower in my rural area than in a city, but still a slight risk no matter where one lives.

• What if severe weather came through and a tree limb dropped onto the fence, thereby compromising the enclosure? Our B's are not "escapists" by nature, but they wouldn't blink at all about roaming the neighborhood if given an obvious opportunity to do so.

If these two main concerns could be resolved, it sure would overcome some hesitancy towards the idea of a doggie door.

Do any of you doggie-door users "lock" the door at any time, and if so, for what reaons?

Yep, those are the main reasons that I don't leave mine out when no one is home. Just about a year ago, we had some strong winds (not even a storm) and a tree blew down a panel of our fence. Our dogs probably would have been long gone if they had been out. And we had one dig out (never, ever had dug before) last spring..again, I think she was bored, and decided to try it out…not good if someone isn't there to check frequently.

Again, I am not against doggy doors, it just isn't something I am comfortable with. There are also other reasons that we have that "normal" people don't have (ie lots of bitches that don't get along; revolving different packs out in the yard, etc); so we maintain A LOT of control over who goes out when.

[navyman]

@Quercus:

Yep, those are the main reasons that I don't leave mine out when no one is home. Just about a year ago, we had some strong winds (not even a storm) and a tree blew down a panel of our fence. Our dogs probably would have been long gone if they had been out. And we had one dig out (never, ever had dug before) last spring..again, I think she was bored, and decided to try it out…not good if someone isn't there to check frequently.

Again, I am not against doggy doors, it just isn't something I am comfortable with. There are also other reasons that we have that "normal" people don't have (ie lots of bitches that don't get along; revolving different packs out in the yard, etc); so we maintain A LOT of control over who goes out when.

Thanks to everyone so far for all of your responses. The initial responses were overwhelmingly in favor of using doggie doors in some fashion…now I'm seeing responses coming in that point out other issues that need to be considered.

Quercus' points make a lot of sense to me. Where there's no oversight/control of our B's location/status due to no one being home, doggie doors present a degree of risk no matter the location. Of course that risk level varies depending on one's own unique circumstances (i.e, breeder, city or rural, when owner(s) is/are home, proximity to high-traffic areas, wild creature infestation levels, etc)

I see that it's ultimately a 'case-by-case' judgement to decide whether or not to use doggie-doors. If an owner is in favor of using one, the times and situations for it to be used and/or locked need to then be configured for one's own unique home, B's, and schedule characteristics.

My insane fantasy would be to have an internet camera with a sweeping view of the backyard so I could monitor the presence of the B's outside, along with remote/time-controlled doggie door capabilities. A perimeter detection system could be used to detect if any of the B's compromise the perimeter and thus trigger a secondary fence to materialize from the ground. Too bad I would need Bill Gate's kind of money to put something like that in action.

[Basenji_Boy]

@Quercus:

There are also other reasons that we have that "normal" people don't have (ie lots of bitches that don't get along; revolving different packs out in the yard, etc); so we maintain A LOT of control over who goes out when.

Ah, We have those same issues, does that mean we're abnormal too?:D

I've always suspected that might be the case, thanks for the conformation!:D

I'm teasing:)

[navyman]

@tanza:

Well that is just common sense that if you have a bitch in season that you would make sure the doggy door is closed off…. pretty dump if you ask me...

As far as critters, we had coons come in the "cat" door that was upstairs in the master bedroom when our cat was alive.... but we have never had a critter come in the doggy doors that are downstairs in the 16 years we had Basenjis and doggy doors.....

Of course anything can happen... but it is not the normal... at least certainly never has been for us. Again, I would not be without a doggy door....

The very presence of 2 or more B's, I imagine, would highly discourage most, if not all, non-rabid wild critters from attempting an entry through the doggie door.

I read the news article about the Pit bull attacks…quite upsetting. This suggests that doggie doors should not be placed outside of a proper and well-fenced-in area.

[nomrbddgs]

I like the doggy doors now-some of them have security locks. I still find these fascinating. Mine would have to lead to the fenced yard.

[JazzysMom]

@Basenji_Boy:

Good thing it was only a cat. Some time ago I posted a news story I found where a pit bull got through someone's doggie door and attacked a lady and her dog in her bedroom!

Yikes!

Oh yeah, that was just a few miles from here. They'd gone in after her Jack Russell Terrier. Pretty awful story. The pits were euthanized,and the owner is facing charges.

[Basenji_Boy]

@navyman:

I read the news article about the Pit bull attacks…quite upsetting. This suggests that doggie doors should not be placed outside of a proper and well-fenced-in area.

I've seen dogs, climb and dig…..up and over or under. I never underestimate any animal. If something wants in bad enough, it's going to get in.IMO

One of ours can open the door and let himself and the others out and does. It's not the doggie door I have a problem with, it's letting my B's outside when no ones home. Our's are in crates when we're not home.

Again if you know your B's and feel secure letting them run when you leave, it's a personal choice.

[navyman]

@Basenji_Boy:

I've seen dogs, climb and dig…..up and over or under. I never underestimate any animal. If something wants in bad enough, it's going to get in.IMO.

I absolutely agree with you. Most animals are naturally equipped to compromise less-than-maximum security level enclosures.

One of ours can open the door and let himself and the others out and does. It's not the doggie door I have a problem with, it's letting my B's outside when no ones home. Our's are in crates when we're not home.

That's really cute, but I'm sure it adds to your stress level! How do you manage to control the door-opening B from doing so?

Again if you know your B's and feel secure letting them run when you leave, it's a personal choice.

My feeling at this point in time is to have a doggie door, but not let it be used when no one's home. I could never feel at peace knowing that Murphy's Law lurks around the corner to spring upon us a situation for us to regret.

[tanza]

@Basenji_Boy:

I've seen dogs, climb and dig…..up and over or under. I never underestimate any animal. If something wants in bad enough, it's going to get in.IMO

One of ours can open the door and let himself and the others out and does. It's not the doggie door I have a problem with, it's letting my B's outside when no ones home. Our's are in crates when we're not home.

Again if you know your B's and feel secure letting them run when you leave, it's a personal choice.

Exactly… ours have always had the run of the yard and their dog room when we are not home... but we have a 12 ft privacy fence, house and yard set far back from the street, good size yard, padlocks on the gates.. and our neighbors are not right up against our fences either and our back neighbor is a nursing home....

[Basenji_Boy]

@navyman:

I absolutely agree with you. Most animals are naturally equipped to compromise less-than-maximum security level enclosures.

That's really cute, but I'm sure it adds to your stress level! How do you manage to control the door-opening B from doing so?

My feeling at this point in time is to have a doggie door, but not let it be used when no one's home. I could never feel at peace knowing that Murphy's Law lurks around the corner to spring upon us a situation for us to regret.

The B that opens the door hasn't figured out how to unlock it yet…..he did somehow accomplish it once. We ended up having two seperate fenced yards and lots of gates inside the house.
We have two pacs and like Andrea male/female issues. One pack has two spayed females and two in tact males........I just can't in my mind leave them unattended when we leave.
I just don't trust the two older Af's outside unattended when we leave( other dogs and prey animal issues), but we've left those two run the house when we go to the store or short type jaunts.

[navyman]

@Basenji_Boy:

The B that opens the door hasn't figured out how to unlock it yet…..he did somehow accomplish it once. We ended up having two seperate fenced yards and lots of gates inside the house.
We have two pacs and like Andrea male/female issues. One pack has two spayed females and two in tact males........I just can't in my mind leave them unattended when we leave.
I just don't trust the two older Af's outside unattended when we leave( other dogs and prey animal issues), but we've left those two run the house when we go to the store or short type jaunts.

As Andrea said, this isn't "normal"

I love my 3 B's, and we've dogsat/fostered on several occasions at the same time up to 9 B's. But, it's a LOT of work…multiple gates to set up...establishing ad hoc feeding arrangements (i.e., daughter take two B's into basement, I take our two into family room, wife places one in the mudroom, and two in the den)...crazy! Taking them for walks, dog park, etc. I don't know how you, Andrea, Kim and the other breeders manage the numbers at times! To me, 3 is a good number ...and more "normal"

[navyman]

@tanza:

Exactly… ours have always had the run of the yard and their dog room when we are not home... but we have a 12 ft privacy fence, house and yard set far back from the street, good size yard, padlocks on the gates.. and our neighbors are not right up against our fences either and our back neighbor is a nursing home....

A 12' privacy fence? What do those look like? That's huge!

[Quercus]

@navyman:

A 12' privacy fence? What do those look like? That's huge!

I was thinking the same thing!!! That is double the height of ours!!!