[Dailydrool] Dog doors

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

A couple years ago Ken finally got tired of hearing me fuss at our  
Elsinore, whose job patrolling the yard requires her to make frequent  
and often frantic exits to the backyard and then hurried entrances to  
make sure the menace at the back didn't migrate around to the front.  
The mail carrier causes special consternation because he goes to the  
five doors of the apartment building that parallels one side of our  
backyard. When Elsinore hears him out there, she has to be out too,  
barking threats and insults the length of the fence and then back up  
again. She knows that after he finishes delivering to the apartment  
building, his next stop is our house, so she has to move quickly to  
get back into the house and from the back door to the full-glass  
front door where she can tell him where to go and how ugly his mama  
is when he hits our front porch. (I caught one carrier shouting at  
her through the glass, "Shut up! Shut up already!")

I got tired of being her doorman, always on demand, almost as soon as  
we moved to this house. If I didn't open the door to let her out,  
she'd dance around my feet and make an awful whining noise through  
her nose so it was impossible for me to concentrate on my job. If I  
didn't open the door to let her back in again, she'd scratch and  
scratch it, ruining the paint. I may have become a well trained  
doorman, but I wasn't a happy one, and I wasn't quiet about how I  
felt. So Ken said we had to get Elsinore a dog door or he was going  
to leave both of us.

We chose a medium-sized wall-mounted door made by PlexiDor (http:// 
www.americas-pet-store.com/plexidor-security-pet-door-wall-unit- 
medium.html or http://www.moorepet.com/Plexidor-Premium-Pet-Doors-s/ 
48.htm) from Moore Pet Doors, and we hired a handyman to install it  
for us because we pretty inept when it comes to stuff like that.

The style we picked has saloon-type swinging doors instead of a top- 
hung flap. My thinking was that the sturdy plastic swinging doors  
would be more draft resistant. I also like that the model we chose  
has a lock-and-key lock and a metal plate that can be screwed over  
the opening and into the metal frame when we go away on vacation.  
Elsinore and young Charlie weren't real happy with the swinging doors  
at first, and it took a couple weeks of coaxing them with treats  
before they'd go through the doors willingly. They didn't like the  
way the doors felt closing in along their bodies and especially their  
tails as they went through. But then they learned to go through the  
doors quickly, not to try to back through them, and in time the  
sensation became familiar and acceptable. Now they and their friends  
all go in and out through the doors without thinking twice.

In addition to drafts, I was concerned about security. The dog door  
could be seen from the alley, and I had visions of our friendly  
neighborhood thugs sending their young nephews through to unlock the  
back door to let them in so they could rob us blind while our hounds  
barked madly from inside their crates and the alarm system wailed.  
While the dog door locks with a metal latch, it wouldn't take much  
effort to kick the door open. Once it's open, I know how easy it is  
to go through these things because I went through our basset friend  
Owen's doggie door--while wearing a dress--with little trouble. All  
you have to do is hitch one shoulder higher than the other.....

Anyway, to soothe my worries, Ken agreed to having our handyman come  
back out and build a faux dog house in front of the dog door and in a  
clapboard style that allows it to blend in with our house. So when  
you look at the back of our house from the alley, it looks as if we  
have a dog house, or perhaps even a small storage unit, on the deck,  
up against the side of the house. The dogs go into the house and make  
a 90-degree turn to go through the dog door. A nephew could wiggle  
into the dog house, but if it's locked, there's no way he or anyone  
else will be able to get through. There isn't enough clearance inside  
the dog house to swing a hammer or push boot through the doggie door.  
An added bonus is that the dog house acts as a wind shield so that  
gusts of wind can't blow through the doors. I also like that it seems  
to trap some of the yard debris the dogs would otherwise track in on  
their feet.

Installing a simple wall-mounted dog door turned into an entire room  
make-over that included removing two false walls and the tile floor  
that I hated anyway, redoing some wiring that wasn't to code, putting  
up new drywall, repainting the walls and textured ceiling, and  
installing a new floor. It was a lot more expensive and involved a  
project than we'd anticipated. But it's been worth every penny and  
more. Elsinore loves having such great freedom of movement. I love  
not having to get up to let her in and out every ten to fifteen  
minutes. Ken loves not hearing Elsinore whine through her nose and me  
swear under my breath at her for "needing" to go out yet again. We're  
all very sorry we didn't get a dog door much sooner.

The only drawback to the dog door is that I'm no longer as aware of  
when everyone's going in and out. The sound of the doors swinging  
back and forth has become white noise to me. So when Elsinore  
developed a UTI, I wasn't as on top of it as I would have been had I  
still been acting as her doorman. But we all feel it's a small price  
to pay for the huge convenience the dog door offers all of us. It has  
greatly improved our quality of life.

I'll be happy to send photos of Elsinore's dog door and dog house to  
those who are interested in doing something similar.

Elizabeth