Do you use a pet door? Have you ever wondered if you should close your pet door? After living with a pet door for years, I closed up my pet door.
We Installed the Pet Door For Convenience
I distinctly remember the day we decided to install a pet “doggie” door.
Little Derby, not more than a few months old, learned how to let a human know when she needed to go outside to potty, and when she needed to be let back in. She was so proud of herself!
In the process, she also learned a human would get up multiple times in an hour to let her outside and back in. In fact, it became a game. Let me tell you, the fear of a puppy tee-teeing on your rug is real!
Up. Down. In. Out. Repeat.
Installation of the pet door was easy and it took maybe a half-hour to train Derby to push the plastic flap with her round Boston terrier head and step through the hole.
Presto! Now, Derby could take herself out to potty and let herself back indoors. What a great invention! And, consequently, end of get-mommy-off-the-couch game. Miraculously, Derby all of a sudden didn’t want to go outside so often. Life was perfect.Â
Life With A Pet Door
Over the years, Derby and by this time, her playmate, Indy, took care of themselves during the workday. Perhaps they split their time pottying outside, napping in the sun, and I’m sure exploring the yard.
I was happy. The girls did not potty inside and as a result, I no longer needed to pay a pet sitter for mid-day services. My pocketbook was happy. I bought more shoes.
When The Dog Door Caused Problems
Once in a while, we survived few close calls and a few injuries.
On one occasion, I arrived home to find Indy with a two-inch straight-line gash on her front leg. Obviously, she’d run into something sharp in the yard, but I never found it. A quick emergency visit to the vet for stitches and antibiotics and life returned to normal.
Another time, my neighbor called to say she came upon both dogs standing in the front yard, looking confused and bewildered. On investigation, she discovered one of my fence gates ajar, so she put the dogs back in the fenced yard and secured the gate.Â
That was a close call. I still used my pet door.
The most heart-breaking event? Derby was kicked by a pest-control professional. (I use that term “professional” loosely!)
Instructed to give advance notice of his planned inspection, he did not, and let himself inside the fenced yard. At the time, the fencing was roll-top wire fencing, about 4 feet high, not the secure, key-lock 6-foot privacy fencing I have today. Reaching over the top of the gate, he unlatched the gate and marched into the backyard.Â
Derby, startled, flew out the pet door, and I assume began barking and circling his feet.
I was not there, so I don’t know if she behaved in an exuberant Boston terrier manner or if frightened, she behaved in a protective, aggressive manner. It doesn’t matter, what matters is he kicked her, based on her abrupt behavior change after the event.
Yes. He should have called to say he would be checking termite stations. If he had, I would have closed my pet door so he could do his job without two dogs at his feet.
That event would affect Derby for the rest of her life. From that day forward, male guests made her nervous, and I needed to manage her fears to prevent bites.Â
As if all of that wasn’t enough to move me to close up my pet door! I kept using it!
“You’ll Have To Close Up Your Pet Door”
“Do you have a pet door?” a rescue administrator asked during my interview for a foster home application. I said yes. She asked if I would agree to close up my pet door. We talked more about pet doors, and my eyes were opened to the risks of using unsupervised pet doors.
Pet Door Risks
The stories I heard were so sad!
- a foster dog went out a pet door in the middle of the night and encountered a wild animal, sustaining grave injuries.
- several snake bites
- theft
- elopement – digging out or climbing over or improper gate closures
- poisonings – either from rodenticide or toxic plants
- dog fights
- dog injuries
- anaphylactic reaction to an insect bite or sting.
- bird of prey encounters, dogs lifted totally out of the yard.
- death by over-heating
- remote-control entries failed and dogs succumbed to harsh temperatures.
Not to mention the risks of an unwelcome visitor entering the house through the pet door!
I closed up my pet door that day.Â
It Was Not Hard To Give Up The Pet Door
No doubt, closing up my pet door took some getting used to. I liked the idea of Derby and Indy being free to take themselves outside at noon for their noonday sun nap. Like many people, I thought I was giving my dogs freedom and entertainment. In reality, they didn’t miss it too much.
I Learned My Dogs Had Been A Nuisance To The Neighbors! Oh Dear.
Several weeks later, my neighbor commented that she hadn’t “heard” my dogs in the yard lately and wanted to know if they were okay. I wasn’t sure what she meant by “heard”.
She told me my dogs barked at the fence on a regular basis. Oh my. Without a doubt, my dogs were a nuisance during the day and I didn’t know. I felt a bit embarrassed. No, I was mortified. Apparently, my little canine good citizen animal assisted therapy dogs behaved poorly while I was away.Â
Later, I came to understand how some of Derby’s reactivity worsened through her freedom to practice her ferociousness at the fence.Â
Many years later… My Pet Door Is Still Closed.
It’s been over 10 years since I closed up my pet door. It’s still installed, just closed up.Â
Sadly, both Derby and Indy are no longer on this earth. My new dog and foster dogs also don’t use the pet door much at all.
In fact, I rarely open up the pet door and only open it up when I’m home and supervising.
I prefer watching my dogs when they are outdoors. Should they encounter a hazard or make a decision that’s not in their best interest, or become injured in some way, I am immediately available. While away, my dogs are most safe when they are indoors.
If you foster dogs, close up your pet door.
I firmly believe that unsupervised pet door use and volunteer rescue work do not go together.
First, our foster dogs are an elopement risk. Dogs do not fully acclimate to a new home or environment for months which means, they do not know where they are and may have the urge to escape.
The safest place for your foster dog during the first weeks of fostering is within your eyesight, and in a crate or other confinement when you are away.
Second, part of our job as fosters is to keep our foster dogs safe and work like hell to minimize accidents.
Fosters put their dogs in harms way every day by leaving the dog loose and unsupervised.Â
I don’t have to tell you that emergency surgeries or emergency hospitalizations are incredibly expensive – running into the thousands. By keeping your foster dogs safe and closing up your pet door, you will be saving your rescue agency money, and you will have peace of mind that you are doing everything you can to keep your foster dogs safe and secure.
The #1 Reason I Closed Up My Pet Door?
Peace of mind.
I have no worries. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing when I’m away from my house. If anyone were to ask me where my dogs are or what are they doing, I know.
They are inside. Safe.
If You Are Dead Set On Using A Pet Door…
…be willing to accept the consequence and extra expense of having a pet door. The list I provided above isn’t a list of random, one-off occurances. My friend’s two dogs were bitten by a rattlesnake last week. One died, the other spent days in the ER.
Another friend of mine uses a pet door with relative success. Her fence is buried deep into the ground so the dogs can’t dig out. It’s taller than your standard fence so that no one can climb over it from either side.
And, she works from home.
She’s had a couple of issues with tummy upset from someone eating something they shouldn’t outside, which you can’t really blame on unsupervised pet door use.
Extra Credit Reading
Dog Door Training: 4 Reasons I Hate Them And One Reason I Love Them
