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Doggie Door

6K views 47 replies 19 participants last post by  Mojo's Mom 
#1 · (Edited)
Sorry I have so many questions. I just want to get this right.

I am thinking about getting a doggie door. Is this a bad thing considering she is still going through house breaking?
 
#2 ·
I think, for now, you'll still have to go in and out with her to make sure she actually goes if she isn't completely trained yet. But lots of people with Havanese (including my breeder) have dog doors, as long as they go out into securely fenced yards.

And don't worry about the questions... That's how most of us learned!!!:)
 
#3 ·
Scudder was my first dog that I actually trained to the doggy door. Actually, he trained himself. He was in my house for about 10 min, at 9 weeks old and all of a sudden he was outside! He figured it out just by watching my guys. He housebroke in about 2 weeks! He was so easy. He also used pee pads in his x pen, but I taught him to go outside when I was home.

Keep in mind. I have a secure fenced in yard. I also live in an area were we don't have many animals of prey. Once and awhile I will see a small hawk.
 
#4 ·
Doug is 15 weeks and we just never knew when he would go to the toilet so if we weren't constantly crating accidents were happening.

Since the doggy door I think we have had two accidents inside. He goes out on his own initiative and we just follow him out to check. We go out though or to work an return to find no accidents!

I find for us it works. We have a pen outside the doggy door so it restricts the yard area. I just took him away for a few days and it was so hard to keep on top of him. He nearly had one accident as he was walking around briefly sniffed at the door and then went to pee on the carpet.

When we got home the first thing he did was run through the house into the laundry (where he is contained when he can't be watched an where his crate is) and jumped out the doggy door to go to the toilet. Didn't skip a beat!

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#9 ·
I have a doggy door-love it. Rom uses it all the time. Miss Paige will use it most of the time. My foster dog will go out of it but barks at the back door to come back in. I think you will find it"s really great. Since your puppy is still young I would watch him to be sure he really does his "business" while outside.
 
#10 ·
We have a doggy door and I love it. Makes life soooo much easier with 3 dogs, and fosters always rotating in and out. I also have a medium door, and my dogs are 15, 16 and 18 lbs. They are in and out of it all the time, and I think it also improves their quality of life because they have free access to the outside.

When I adopted Misty, it was pretty obvious she had been trained to piddle pads, as she was absolutely convinced bathroom rugs were the place to go. If I took the rugs up, she went on the floor where they were, if I closed the doors, she went in front of the bathroom door. Pretty entrenched habit, and I don't use piddle pads, so we had a task!

She learned to use the doggy door right away and it helped a lot with housebreaking, as she would follow the other two out when they went and got the idea pretty quickly. I also did "housebreaking 101" with her and walked her outside a lot. Now, I have replaced my bathroom rugs, can leave the doors open, and she is fine :whoo:

There are safety concerns with doggy doors, but I think it is a matter of weighing all the risks and benefits. I have a secure fenced yard, and live on a dead end street in a quiet, safe area. I once audio taped my dogs when I went to work (yes I know- a little crazy!) and found that they never even went outside when I was gone...was kind of what I suspected. But the door is there if they need it, and it is usually only a few hours someone is gone.

I do not let a foster dog, or a newly adopted dog, use the door when I am not home, until they have been with me a while and I really know their behavior. Most of the fosters I have never get to use it unsupervised because they might be flight risks, or have other issues.... and keeping them safe is priority. But there have been a few I have felt OK with.

Even with a secure fence, some dogs will dig under, or bark non stop when you are not home. I don't believe Havanese are big diggers though. So, knowing your dog is a big part of this. Some people will not allow their dogs to use the door when they are not there to supervise; I think you have to find your own comfort level with this.

On the other hand, I have thought that if there ever was fire, my dogs would be able to get out:)

I highly recommend a doggy door- you'll love it once you have it!
 
#13 ·
The fire is what I often think about too. When I accidentally set off my smoke alarm, I tell the dogs to go outside. I want to train them to go outside instead of hide under my office desk!
My guys don't dig or go outside when I'm not home unless they have to potty. They just sleep on the couch waiting my return.
My biggest concern with a dog door is people steel dogs. So I have locks on all my gates.
 
#17 ·
My biggest concern with a dog door is what my CAT will bring in THROUGH it!!!!:pound:

Seriously, we have a cat door in the basement, but closed up after a previous cat brought in too many live animals and let them go inside the house. I'll tell you, it is NO FUN chasing squirrels around under the furniture when 8 1/2 months pregnant... and that is NOT a hypothetical!:biggrin1:
 
#14 ·
Linda- Good idea with the smoke alarm. I hope their instinct will kick in if it ever happens, but I also worry that they would just run and hide. Lord knows- I set the smoke alarm off enough!
Stealing is a concern- especially in this economy.
 
#18 · (Edited)
I think Linda's idea is an EXCELLENT one. "instinct" is to go to a place they feel safe when they are frightened, which is very likely to be under the desk or a bed. Unfortunately, it is not instinctive for an animal to leave a burning building until it is too late.

Oh, for those who (like us) don't have a dog door, or those who choose not to let their dogs use it when they aren't home, or even if you are just afraid that your dog might not USE it in a fire emergency, there are decals that you can get for your windows to tell the fire department what pets are in the house, and in the case of caged pets like birds, where to find them. There are a lot of different versions available, but here is just one kind from Amazon:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Alert-Rescue-Please-Label-Labels/dp/B00895XYVU/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1357338052&sr=8-5&keywords=pet+fire+decals"]Amazon.com: Pet Alert, Fire Rescue, Please Save Our Pets! (with Dog & Cat Label, 5 Labels / Pack, 4" x 5": Office Products[/ame]

We have decals on both doors and near our cellar bulkhead.
 
#16 ·
Sometimes the human race can be so awful- we can surely take a page from doggy behavior. I've never seen that documentary, but knew there was an issue. :frusty: On a day I'm feeling particularly emotionally strong, I'll have to watch it. Avoiding buying cosmetics that are tested on animals is a step anyone can take to combat this practice.
 
#22 ·
One of my friends had a squirrel get in through her doggy door all by itself. She couldn't get it out and had to call a service called "Adirondack Dundee" to catch the squirrel! (She lives in the Adirondack Mountains) They said it happens all the time with doggy doors.

Haven't had a problem like that yet- we've had it a year and a half...but our door is not at ground level. Maybe that makes a difference?
 
#28 ·
This is what my Havanese does when he wants his big English Shepherd brother to go outside with him. He rarely will go outside by himself ! Bogie really has trained Winston well. He will just go to the doggie door and hit it a couple times and Winston will come running and Bogie will back out of the way and let Winston go out first and then he will follow him outside.. So maybe CiCi just wants some company.. Lol.. Which kind of defeats the purpose.. I'm sure she will get the hang of it..

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#35 ·
I think I finally have my husband talked into putting a doggie door into the side of the house off of the office. It would lead outside to a securely fenced in yard. My question is, if anyone has put a doggie door into the side of the house, and what brand they went with? There are oodles of choices out there. We live in Nebraska so it needs to be very weatherproof if I'm going to put it in the side of my house. Thank you for any help you can give me!
 
#36 ·
Glad your getting a doggy door. I think if you have a fenced yard and no prey animals lurking there are so many benefits.

I have no idea what brand ours is so I can't help there sorry. Ill have a look when I'm home but I'm at work atm.
 
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