OT -- Dog Door Info

I have purchased four PetSafe dog doors in the large size- three for me at my last three houses and one for a friend. The eBay seller I bought from is "no longer a registered user". There are other eBay sellers with prices from $140-150 for the large size.

I have absolutely loved the doors as does my HairyButt Gang- and my friend and his dog love theirs as well! In MO, with our weather extremes, I chan ged the door batteries every March and the batteries weren't dead yet... I just wanted to be sure. But then I didn't use the 'locked' function, so t he batteries pretty much just sat there for the most part. I always instal led them in insulated steel exterior doors- not thru a wall as some doggy d oors are intended for that type of installation.

The large size plus the weight of the flap means it will swing open one tim e in the opposite direction each time the dog goes thru it, but then it re- centers itself and closes quite quickly. I haven't used the key on their c ollars since I always have a securely fenced yard and didn't worry about ot her critters coming in.

One thing I do is to put the soft side of self-adhesive Velcro around the i nside frame/outer edge of the door and made an insulated cover for over the door in winter. One layer of insulated drapery lining, one layer (or two ) of Warm & Natural and then a layer of heavy upholstery fabric to match my room decor- add the scratchy side of the Velcro to it with permanent fabri c glue- you can't sew thru self-adhesive Velcro and the sticky isn't enough to hold it to the drapery lining. I do the Velcro that way so dog hair d oesn't collect on the door frame by having the scratchy side of the Velcro on the doggy door frame. My dogs have learned to nudge aside the Velcro'd cover in a potty emergency to let themselves out. LOL But sometimes the cover will catch in the door and hold it partially open when they do that. I'd recommend using the doggy door's 'locked' function when the insulated cover is in place to avoid the cover holding the door open.

Any other questions? ;-)

Leslie & The Furbabies > Hi Guys,

There was a funny picture on facebook of a dog looking in a door from outside. The caption said, "Let me in because I have to go outside in just a minute." I am the doggy door opener here. I open, I close, I escort, praise and protect; around the clock and regardless of what my silly other plans were. Occasionally, I open the door only to see if it's just thunder or a dragon approaching. Some days I manage to get something else done. Polly

last three houses and one for a friend. The eBay seller I bought from is "no longer a registered user". There are other eBay sellers with prices from $140-150 for the large size.

his dog love theirs as well! In MO, with our weather extremes, I changed the door batteries every March and the batteries weren't dead yet... I just wanted to be sure. But then I didn't use the 'locked' function, so the batteries pretty much just sat there for the most part. I always installed them in insulated steel exterior doors- not thru a wall as some doggy doors are intended for that type of installation.

in the opposite direction each time the dog goes thru it, but then it re-centers itself and closes quite quickly. I haven't used the key on their collars since I always have a securely fenced yard and didn't worry about other critters coming in.

inside frame/outer edge of the door and made an insulated cover for over the door in winter. One layer of insulated drapery lining, one layer (or two) of Warm& Natural and then a layer of heavy upholstery fabric to match my room decor- add the scratchy side of the Velcro to it with permanent fabric glue- you can't sew thru self-adhesive Velcro and the sticky isn't enough to hold it to the drapery lining. I do the Velcro that way so dog hair doesn't collect on the door frame by having the scratchy side of the Velcro on the doggy door frame. My dogs have learned to nudge aside the Velcro'd cover in a potty emergency to let themselves out. LOL But sometimes the cover will catch in the door and hold it partially open when they do that. I'd recommend using the doggy door's 'locked' function when the insulated cover is in place to avoid the cover holding the door open.

HMMMM -- wonder why your whole post didn't copy in the regular screen width??? Anyway, the purpose for us having an electro-magnetic dog door is so that we CAN use the locking mechanism to keep the cats from using it. Our new yard is fenced but not enough to keep a cat from going over for a bit of a walk-about!!! If you should hear of another type of door,let me know, OK? The PetSafe we got for the kids works a treat for my Auggie (Lhasa Apso) and Sam (their Basenji). It's just Aspen (their Shepard mix) who makes the door swing back and forth 3 or 4 times. I know you have BIG dogs -- way bigger than Aspen (she's about

40#) -- so I wonder why your door only swings once and then closes??? Our door is the large size because Aspen, while not much taller than a large Cocker, has a huge Shepard chest -- hence the need for the large size door. I'll keep searching but once we have all the stuff unpacked and the kids start coming up to visit regularly, we'll gt another PetSafe door if I haven't found something else. Thanks for the info & CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary /\____/\

My dear 95 lb. Simon suddenly went blind two years ago. I have to help him up and down the rear steps so he doesn't go over the side and hurt himself . Sometimes I have to go out in the backyard and 'rescue' him when he get s discombobulated and can't find the steps and back door. Can't install th e doggy door here til he goes to Rainbow Bridge- to keep him safe. Yep, Po lly, I understand being at a beloved pup's beck and call at all hours and i n all weather! ;-)

Leslie & The Furbabies > Hi Guys,

I noticed after getting the first door (or was it the second?) the next Pet Safe I bought was a 'new and improved' version. Perhaps the one you had w as an original model and the magnets that catch the door swing have been im proved? I'm quite certain about the swinging only once because I was watch ing for how much cold air came inside as my HairyButt Gang came and went. And, yes, they all three weigh in at 85-95 lbs. and are tall, long legged boys- a Golden Retriever, a Golden/Chow and a Golden/Collie. Yeppers, I d o love Goldens and Golden crosses!

I pondered on this a bit- what if you had the doggy door open into a smalle r dog run with a covered roof over it? When you couldn't supervise them th e dogs and cats could use that secure covered area and be safe. When you w ere home you could open a gate on the covered area so the dogs could get to the entire yard?

Leslie & The Furbabies > Hi Guys,

Another choice might be a "facial recognition" door, operated by an ancient computer. See:

Kay

On 4/10/2013 7:33 AM, Leslie & The Furbabies in MO. wrote:

PetSafe I bought was a 'new and improved' version. Perhaps the one you had was an original model and the magnets that catch the door swing have been improved? I'm quite certain about the swinging only once because I was watching for how much cold air came inside as my HairyButt Gang came and went. And, yes, they all three weigh in at 85-95 lbs. and are tall, long legged boys- a Golden Retriever, a Golden/Chow and a Golden/Collie. Yeppers, I do love Goldens and Golden crosses!

dog run with a covered roof over it? When you couldn't supervise them the dogs and cats could use that secure covered area and be safe. When you were home you could open a gate on the covered area so the dogs could get to the entire yard?

One of the reasons we love this place so much is that it's about 2 acres that is fenced around the entire perimeter with an electronic gate at the front. About 1/3 of the back yard is fenced off from the rest of the area specifically for dogs -- the small storage shed has a doggie door facing that part of the fenced yard :-)))). We'll have the part of the back porch along the laundry screened in and put a cat flap in the laundry so the kitties and Auggie Doggie can go out there. We'll have the cat boxes, food, water, etc. out there for the kitties, too. The electronic door will be for dogs only and will be in an area that leads to the fenced "doggie" portion of the back yard -- that's where the grass is. We have a 10 foot wide covered wraparound concrete porch on all four sides of the house so putting in a dog run would be difficult and DH would get his hackles up about putting something that looks "tacky" on the porch!!! VBS he's being a P.I.T.A. about several things I want to do but that's another story. Back to the PetSafe door -- we got it for the kids about three years ago so maybe it is one of the older versions. If you say your newer one closes after just one swing, then I have to believe the one the kids have is NOT "new & improved" -- LOL. Your Babies are twice the size of Aspen so I have to think it's the door not the dog :-). It's difficult for me to be getting up and down and walking to the door to the the dog out umpty-million times a day. Add to that the fact that, being a kennel raised show dog, Auggie never learned to tell you when she needs to go out! I had DH put a dog door in the cabin before I ever got a dog -- LOL -- because I KNEW I was gonna have a doggie soon!!! I got Auggie and showed her the dog door and that was that -- she used it with no problem. Looks like we'll end up with a PetSafe regardless of any battery or swinging door issues. I KNOW my kitties won't try to use it. They never used the dog door in GA that went to the back yard, just the one we showed them how to use that went to the screen porch. I'm not sure about Holly Kitty, Raechel's new kitty but she shows no interest in their dog door so I assume she won't be interested in the one here -- whether or not we have swinging door issues. Thanks for all the info. I think I might e-mail the company and ask them a few questions and see what they have to say. CiaoMeow >^;;^<

PAX, Tia Mary /\____/\

WalMart here sells a chain link dog run that's about 6X8 ft. (I'd NEVER use that for my dogs but for a temporary holding situation) with chain link ov er the top. Something like that might not offend your DH for the 'when yo u're gone' dog area where the kitties could be safe, too. You could put a side up of the run to the doggy door with a hole cut into the side for acc ess from the doggy door and use the built-in gate on the far side for letti ng the dogs out into the yard. Just a thought.

Leslie & The Furbabies > Hi Guys,