Doggie Door

[PebblesPages]

Originally Posted by lfung5

Here's my doggy door with my smallest dog sitting near it. It's probabably actually a 2,5 inch rise but measures 4 inches from the ground to the bottom of the flap.

How much does your dog weigh?

[lfung5]

I have no idea. Sorry

[lfung5]

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.

[Caroline]

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.

[lfung5]

Dogs are stolen and sold for laboratory testing. It is a huge business. Scary stuff. If you want to know more about it, there is a documentary called, Dealing Dogs. It will make your skin crawl.

[Caroline]

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. 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.

[krandall]

Originally Posted by lfung5

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.

My biggest concern with a dog door is what my CAT will bring in THROUGH it!!!!

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!

[krandall]

Originally Posted by Nikita

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.

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:

Amazon.com: Pet Alert, Fire Rescue, Please Save...
We have decals on both doors and near our cellar bulkhead.

[Sheri]

Originally Posted by krandall

My biggest concern with a dog door is what my CAT will bring in THROUGH it!!!!

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!

Oh, Karen, although I'm grinning at the mental picture of that, I surely know what you mean about chasing critters through the house. One of our cats brought in a baby rabbit in my last house. Not fun, and the poor little guy was so scared!

[Caroline]

Here's an adorable story of a mother dog saving pups from a burning building:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...me-safety.html

Real feel- good story, nothing to do with a doggy door, but thought it worth posting :-)