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Dog door flaps?

estelle

Well-known member
Hi everyone, I havn't been on for a while but things are going ok with charlie although he did have to spend a night at the vets :( to cut a long story short he had E coli :yikes :yikes but is absolutely fine now :D .
We have been away and he stayed with my nan for a week needless to say he was spoilt rotten and was even allowed to sleep on nans bed :roll: , has tried cocking his leg to go to wee and has really come on with the house training which leeds me to my question!!
Dog door flaps? does anyone use them? I'm thinking of getting the one where Charlie would wear a little fob on his collar so the flap will only open for him.
We live in a 3 storey town house, the front room & kitchen are on the 1st floor so this is where we are most of the time and it's not easy to tell when he needs to go out as we need to go downstairs through 1 door and into my daughters bedroom to get to the back door! He could be downstairs for a little while before someone notices that he maybe needs to go!!.
So I thought maybe a dog flap then he can let himself in & out without having to wait for us!!
He's doing really well so far and I don't want to hinder him in any way, if we could easily see the back door and when he was stood waiting this wouldn't be a problem
Thanks everyone
 
Hi estelle,

Sound like your house is very similar to mine - we have to go through the cellar to get to the back door.

I've put some poochiebells on the cellar door which is in the kitchen, each time we go "potty" I get hold of Oakley's paw and tap the bells.

He hasn't caught on yet fully as he is only 11 weeks but Merlin has started to hit them with his bum :roll: when he wants to go out........
 
In this climate of dog thefts, I wouldn't consider a facility which let my ddog go out, even in my garden ,alone. Having said that, mine oftenget the back door left open, but I'm not far from it, we have a very clanky tall metal gate and my boys are very vocal, if someonme approaches. A puppy is a different matter, because it is too friendly and trusting, being likely to not make a sound , if lifted.

This sounds scaremongering, but that's how things are nowadays. Since Josh, the ruby boy, went missing a few miles from me, mine won't even be let off the lead, unless there's only one dog with me, doing obedience, so on instant recall.
 
I can see where your coming from but fortunately there's no way that anyone can get to our back garden
 
Our yard is fenced in, but we still go out with the dogs just to make sure they do their job...and so we can be sure to pick it up. I hate stepping in poo in my own yard, it makes me crazy! Plus, it's my chance to see that they're healthy, no loose stools, etc. Also, Gus ate a mouse a few weeks back, and had I not been there to see it, I wouldn't have know to treat him for posion.

and, where there's a will there's a way....if someone wants something bad enough they'll get in.
 
Estelle,

First off, sorry to hear that charlie had e.coli!! What an awful thing to have to go through.!! It seems like he's had a lot of things going on with him!! Poor little guy.

Secondly, can I ask how old Charlie is? Reason being is right now Kosmo is 9 months old. He doesn't have accident in the house.. EVER. Reason being though, and I am totally convinced, is because I take him out and WATCH him while he goes. That way I know when he's gone, what he's done, and I have a better understanding of when he'll have to go again. I also feel better to know nothing's happened like Jen had happen to her. Doggie doors work well for some people, but I know a few people who installed them and they were rendered useless except for when the post man or company came. :lol:
 
It is a good idea to still go out with them even when they are older - apparantley you tell a lot from poo! I must admit - it often gets discussed between me and the grannies! I like to know how many and what they were like after they have been at Grans while I'm at work... just in case... ;)
 
I have 2 doggy doors. One to a fenced area that they can use anytime. The other is in my deck screen door and is only open when I open the sliding glass door.

The dog doors I have purchased for regular doors, always come with a cover, so that you can chose to close off the dog flap when you don't want the dogs to use it. I generally only use this closure when there is a very windy rainstorm. I close it then or else the wind blows the rain in. For normal rainstorms, there is no problem.

My dogs sleep in my bedroom with me and my bedroom door is closed. So they aren't going out in the middle of the night. However I leave the dog door available all the time. The dogs go out whenever they need to. My big problem is that Merry loves to bark. She'll go outside for that purpose too.
 
merlinsmum said:
It is a good idea to still go out with them even when they are older - apparantley you tell a lot from poo! I must admit - it often gets discussed between me and the grannies! I like to know how many and what they were like after they have been at Grans while I'm at work... just in case... ;)

What about the Englishman's reputation for discussing the weather ? :lol:
 
Who wants to talk about the weather when you have a cavalier? :lol: In fact, why would you want to talk about anything else :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
arasara said:
Estelle,

First off, sorry to hear that charlie had e.coli!! What an awful thing to have to go through.!! It seems like he's had a lot of things going on with him!! Poor little guy.

Secondly, can I ask how old Charlie is? Reason being is right now Kosmo is 9 months old. He doesn't have accident in the house.. EVER. Reason being though, and I am totally convinced, is because I take him out and WATCH him while he goes. That way I know when he's gone, what he's done, and I have a better understanding of when he'll have to go again. I also feel better to know nothing's happened like Jen had happen to her. Doggie doors work well for some people, but I know a few people who installed them and they were rendered useless except for when the post man or company came. :lol:
Hi Sara, Charlie's 17 weeks, Except for this morning :roll: I can't remember the last time he had a poo accident in the house, and that was my fault because I didn't get up quick enough (6am this morning)!!
He still uses his pads for his wees but this is getting less and less through the day and there's only 1 wee on the pad in the mornings. I'm only considering the door flap because of the layout of my house and the fact that we can't always see when he's stood waiting, plus he doesn't seem to have any routine of when he goes, sometimes he goes straight after his food and other times he doesn't , when he doesn't we never know when it's going to happen! some people say 20 mins after but with charlie it's anyones guess!!
Obviously I'd still be monotoring his jobs icon_whistling and we'd be able to tell when he's outside as we'd hear him tearing around on the gravel
 
I have a flap on the back door so that everyone can access the cat run and the dogs will use this if they get caught short, i also have one on the livingroom door, the kitchen door, a door into the eaves and on the bathroom door icon_whistling
 
LMAO Ste, your house is animal friendly then? :lol:

My friend used to have this black labrador and they put two dog flaps in for him. One in the kitchen door and one in the utility room door so that he could get out the garden when they weren't in.

Simba never used the flaps but her teenage sons did several times when they got locked out :yikes It used to worry me half to death that if they could get in and out then so could a burglar :yikes

They've now got new doors - without flaps :D
 
I would worry that the fob might malfunction, making it impossible for the dog to get back inside.

I'm not comfortable with the idea of my dogs going outside without my knowledge or if I'm not there to keep an eye on them.

There have been situations described on this message board where dogs (mine included) chew on sticks, eat dead birds, eat dead mice (which might have been poisoned!), eat acorns, toadstools, mushrooms, catch live rabbits, kill mice, etc. etc. Even a cat coming into the garden could scratch their eyes!

In addition, what Kirsty said about dog poop - in order to know if my dogs are heathy, I need to know when their last poop was and whether they have firm stools or if there's a problem, how serious it is and how long it's been since the problem started. The vet always asks these questions and it's my responsibility to give accurate information.

In my last house I did have a doggy door in the outer screen/storm door, but not the solid door. So if I was in the kitchen I could open the solid door and they could run in and out, but I was right there watching them through the window or door, so I knew what they were up to.
 
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