Do you have a dog door? Is it safe to use with a fenced yard?

Question

I have a dog door in the garage that was there when I moved in. My dog has been having problems with urination, and I think it's due to being too excited when outside and forgetting to do her thing, then having to go once inside. I want to try the dog door as a way for her to go outside in an emergency, but I'm not sure what the safest way to use it is. I have a fenced yard, but should there be a kennel instead? I do plan on keeping her crated when no one is home.

Answer 1

Just remember it works both ways. We had one and the four Yorkies we had would go in and out. Well one day they had a skunk cornered close to the door. Ya guess what. In it came. After several minutes and a house full of spray. She ran out an open door with all four dogs chasing her. If anyone would have had a movie camera it would have been worth 10,000 on Home vidios.

Answer 2

I had an old dog who needed to go more often and I installed a doggy door for her. I also put a combination lock on my fence though so neighborhood children couldn't accidentally come into my fence or leave it open. It worked very well....At first, we used a doggy door that had an electronic sensor attached to the collar of the dog so that it was locked except when my dog was near the door to prevent neighborhood cats from coming in. But, I adopted a male mastiff that was way too big for the door and so we bought a regular one. We never had any trouble with animals coming in to my house.

That said, after I lost my older mastiff, we moved to another house and I decided against installing another doggy door. Even with a lock on the fence, I was always scared that someone would steal one of my dogs -- or be able to get into my house--a doggy door for a 170-200lb mastiff can easily fit an intruder ...

Answer 3

I really don't like dog doors. We have neighbors who have one and their dog is able to go outside and bark at anything at all hours. However, if you're only going to use it when you're home to be able to supervise, and not at night, it might be a good thing.

It won't solve the urination issue though. A lot of dogs get hyped up to be outside and don't go, but the way to solve that is through creating a routine where nothing happens outside until she goes. And if she doesn't go in 15 minutes, just come back in. When she does go, immediately give her a treat and let her romp and play as usual. She should get the connection that romping and playing and happy exciting fun stuff doesn't happen until AFTER she does her business.

Hope that helped.

And crating is NOT cruel. It is often the safest, most humane way to confine your dog.

Answer 4

I've had a doggie door at two different houses and it has never been a problem. Ours leads to a fenced in yard. We leave it open during the day so if we go out to the store they can still use it if need be. We close it up at night, because they sleep in the bedroom and the door is closed so they can't use it and also no one can break in through it.

Answer 5

I would think a dog door leading into a fenced yard is good enough as long as the dog doesn't have a problem getting in or out of it.

Answer 6

Once you train your dog to use the dog door there should be no need to keep them in a kennel. The dog door works great for my dog and you have a fenced in yard so you should let your dog enjoy itself.

Answer 7

I have a fenced in yard and a dog door i have two dogs and they both use the door it works fine no problem yet!

Answer 8

i have a dog door in my back house door leading to my fenced back yard. i LOVE it. luckily my house is at an angle from the road (and private with big shrubs covering the back yard perimeter) so people cannot see that i have a dog door. my dog loves it, and if i'm running late from work or need to run errands, i don't have to worry about her pottying inside.

if people can see from the road that you have one -- i'd be wary of that... too many dishonest people might try to break in.

Answer 9

Have to be careful if it's a big dog door - burglars often use them to break into your house!

If the fence is solid and high enough to keep her in, then it would be safe - but a locked and covered chain-link kennel would be safest. (and keep the burglars out!)

Answer 10

i have a doggie door, a fenced yard, and a kennel. never had any problems, the kennel has a lock on it and so does the doggie door, and my dog is aggressively protective of me ,my house and yard.