Pampered Dog Blog

Installing a doggie door in your house so that your dog can come in and out without the help of a person is something that benefits both you and your dog. Your dog will be free to go outside in case it wants to play or needs to relieve itself, and you won’t have to interrupt your work, studies, or whatever activity you’re doing because you need to open the door for the dog.

With a doggie door you will not have to get out of bed late at night or early in the morning to put the dog out and that can save you a lot of hassle. Now it is just a matter of deciding how to have the doggie door installed. You can call a professional to come and do the work for you but why would you when it is easy enough to do on your own?.

The Process

If you decide to do the installation yourself, here are a few tips that you can use as a general guide. To get started you first want to determine the door placement, where you are going to have the pet flap situated on the door of your home. You will have to take into account the height of your dog.

You will want the doggie door to be in a place where it will be easy and convenient for your dog to use it. Bigger dogs might require you to adjust the height of the doggie door, and remember that your dog may still grow, depending on its age. The size of your dog is also important to consider because the door will need to be large enough that your dog will not stand a chance of getting stuck in it on their way in or out of the house.

If you can, remove your door from its hinges before installing the doggie door, as you will be able to draw guiding lines and cut it better this way, as well as to place the door horizontally on a surface to make it easier to work on. A hardware store will sell you complete kits of doggy door that will have all the materials you need, including plans, a set of instructions, the doggie door itself, fixtures, hinges, screws, bolts, etc.

Just follow the instructions that come with the set, doing only one stept at a time, and you should be fine; then just put your door back on its hinges and you’re all set.

When your newly adopted dog comes to “ask” you to open the door for it, you might find it funny or even cute, but after a few weeks of this, it becomes tiresome and irritating. If you don’t like being your dog’s butler, consider having a pet door installed and train your dog or have it trained to use it.

Getting a Pet Door

Spending a lot of money is not necessary to purchase a pet door for your house. There are plenty of affordable and easy to install pet doors available in the market today. To help you chose the right door for your pet, measure your pet’s height and body size. With the measurements of your pet, you can start comparing models in pet stores or on the Internet. Actually, it’s easier and more practical to get the pet door from an online store than by driving to a shopping center to a pet store. Shopping online will not only help you save energy, it can also help you save some money especially if you use a price comparison shopping tool. By comparing prices from different suppliers, you can get the best price for the model you want.

You should always try to get a model that you can install yourself. This way, you get to save some money on carpentry work.

Installing The Pet Door

Installing the pet door is relatively easy and even if your carpentry skills are not really that great, you can still install this contraption within a few minutes. You start by measuring your pet from the floor to the lowest part of its stomach. Now, there should be at least a distance of at least two inches between the lowest part of your dog’s boy to the beginning of the pet door, and the width of the pet door should be at least three inches larger than your pet’s widest point. If you have a young pet, keep in mind that you may need to expand the measurements of the pet door after some time.

Training the Pet

Once the pet door is in place, you may now start training your pet to use it. Take your dog or cat, place it in front of the door, open the door with the hand and hold it, and then gently push the pet through the door. Repeat this process until your dog or cat learns how to use the door on its own.