[AnnArtisan]

Atticus is bell-trained and hasn't had any accidents in the house since he was three or four months old, so I'm now ready to consider him "seriously house-broken" and therefore also ready to install a doggy door to make it easier on everyone.

My husband's top concern in choosing a doggy door is security.  Hence, he's sold on the idea of one of those ultra-expensive ones that are controlled by a sensor in the dog's collar.

My biggest concern is heat loss, hence I want one that is well-insulated and has a flap and seal that don't leave us heating our back yard.  I'm also not real wild about the fact that the sizes of the inserts necessary for Boxers cut the access through the door by humans to less than half its standard width.  

The ONLY way into our back yard is through the sliding glass patio door.  There honestly isn't even a foot of space anywhere else along the back wall for a dog door.

Finally, our patio door (heck, every window in our house) is substandard crap that I'd replace tomorrow if we had the $$$.  So when I look at the price of my husband's preferred doggy door option (upwards of five hundred), coupled with the fact that it would be a good investment to completely replace this patio door anyway, I start to dream that maybe there are actually companies out there that specialize in exactly this sort of thing:  Custom made sliding glass doors with pet-access.   But I googled it and came up empty.  So now I'm "googling" here.  

Can anyone point me to a source that can provide us with the custom-made, high-security, energy-efficient solution I dream of?

AnnA

 

[samsonsmom]

I haven't actually heard of anyone that does that...The sizes on the doors really vary by manufacturer, as I found out. The large was just waayyy too small for Samson, so I ended up with an extra large..Trying to find the dimensions right now. I believe it was like 18" inches long...Ours have the magnetic flaps, which was a must for us and they work very well...Most of our bad weather comes from the west and the door is facing the east, so seldom do I have any issues with cold air or anything...As far as price, I believe mine was $139.00, which isn't cheap..I don't really think those "security" doors are really necessary if your yard is fenced..You can always slide the outer down to keep anything else from getting in, which is what we do at nite...

 

[grandprix]

Sorry if I'm going too far off topic here (I really don't know of company that makes those kinds of custom doors).  I am interested in installing a doggy-door also (to my back yard, which has a dog-proof 6ft fence).  My question is this: how do you keep the dog from making a mess in the house if it's rainy/muddy outside?  Currently, I keep an eye on my boxer when he's outside and dry/clean off his feet when he comes in, if necessary.

 

[AnnArtisan]

Most of our bad weather comes from the west and the door is facing the east, so seldom do I have any issues with cold air or anything...As far as price, I believe mine was $139.00, which isn't cheap.

Our bad weather also comes from the west and northwest, and that's exactly the direction this door faces, so it's a big concern for me.  Tell me this -  is it a PITA for humans to go in and out the narrow space that's left after installing the insert?

AnnA

 

[AnnArtisan]

Sorry if I'm going too far off topic here (I really don't know of company that makes those kinds of custom doors).  I am interested in installing a doggy-door also (to my back yard, which has a dog-proof 6ft fence).  My question is this: how do you keep the dog from making a mess in the house if it's rainy/muddy outside?  Currently, I keep an eye on my boxer when he's outside and dry/clean off his feet when he comes in, if necessary.

Well, I sure don't mind straying from the topic because this is also a concern for me.  Even more than the wet/muddy feet though, I'm bothered by the idea of him bringing in all sorts of little "treasures."  

You know, I've thought about the muddy feet thing a lot.  I generally keep a beach towel near the back door when it's wet outside and use it to wipe him down for at least the first couple of days after my weekly mopping (and then I start getting lazy.)  But honestly, dogs can be trained to do SO many remarkable things, you'd think there must be a way to train them to wipe their feet when they come in!

AnnA

 

[Diesel-and-Kira]

Like I said in a previous post somewhere, on super windy days the flap does sometimes blow open. but otherwise all the weather stripping that came with the door really helps prevent drafts.
As for 'treasures' there's not much you can do to prevent that. Diesel brings in pieces of twigs and branches, and occasionally he brings me a pretty little flower. I just grab the dustbuster. it doesn't really bother me.
The mud is a whole different story. Our back yard has an area where grass just wont grow. and obviously when it rains...and even when it doesn't there's mud and dirt that gets brought in. in the summer there's a darker trail on the carpet from the door, to the kitchen. But that was happening before we got the door so we had bought a steam cleaner for that, before we even got the dog door.

but really, the positives of the door far outweigh the negatives. I love that thing. I would never live without it.

 

[samsonsmom]

Neither of mine bring me presents, so that has never been an issue..Dirty floors? Oh yea and since we had part of the yard tore up when we tried to level it somewhat, we have a ton of clay exposed..Ugh..I try to catch them when they come in to clean off their feet..I also saw in a catalog a really nice rug that is supposed to really make dirt cling to it..Here's the link, the rugs are rather pricey, but if they work as well as they claim, might be worth it..

Ann are you wanting to know if a human can go thru that flap? Only a child would be able to or a very very small adult

http://www.inthecompanyofdogs.com/itemd ... D76026+BKW

 

[AnnArtisan]

Ann are you wanting to know if a human can go thru that flap? Only a child would be able to or a very very small adult

http://www.inthecompanyofdogs.com/itemd ... D76026+BKW

Well, we used to have a doggy door in the door that leads from our garage to the yard, and while it was too small for an adult to get through, it was still a security issue because and adult could easily stick his arm through and reach up and open the door.  So I guess that is my husband's main concern.  (That and the possibility of other animals using the door.)

At any rate, after spending much of the day yesterday searching for one of the automatic doors it turns out it's not really going to be an option for us anyway.  There are only a few brands on the market and of those one is discontinued, one doesn't have a sliding glass door model, and the other has a lot of angry, unsatisfied customers and lawsuits filed against it for selling a faulty product and not standing behind it.  

So I've settled on a particular standard model that sounds pretty well made and have one last question.   Since Atticus isn't fully grown yet, I'm not sure what size opening he's going to need.  Right now (at ten months old and 65 pounds) he can slip through the door when it's open nine inches.  They sell a model that has a ten inch wide opening and one that has a twelve inch wide opening.  I'd love to hear what width opening works for those of you with full-grown Boxers (and how much your Boxer weighs).

Thanks!

AnnA