What Is The Best Dog Door Location? | Electronic Dog Door Placement
You like to spend time with your dog. You play with your dog, exercise your dog, and cuddle your dog. You spend hours showing your dog how much you love them, but you can’t always be there to meet your dog’s every need. Sometimes you have to leave your dog on their own. At these times, it’s important to ensure that your dog can entertain themselves, stay active through the day, and get outside when it’s important to “do business.”
If you’re a busy homeowner, maintaining the dog owner lifestyle may mean installing an electronic dog door. Whether you’re unable to be there for your dog during the day, or if your dog’s personality is such that they want independence, installing a dog door can give your dog the freedom to go outside and roam your property on their own, even if you’re not there.
Electronic dog doors offer pet owners convenience and give dogs something to do during the day. Choosing the right dog door location is important to ensure that your dog can get the most use out of their automatic pet door. It’s also important to choose the right dog door location because not all locations are convenient for your pet and not all locations are great for you as a homeowner. Whether you’re considering installing a door with a dog door or you’d like to install a dog door in the wall of your home, there’s a lot to think about when making this decision. It’s also important to perform installation correctly. Here’s what you should know.
How Dog Doors Assist Pet Owners
A dog door can instill a sense of independence in your dog. It gives them the opportunity to go outside when they need to relieve themselves or just to play. It delivers opportunities for your dog to indulge their natural curiosity, allowing them to sniff and investigate their yard and develop their instinct for keeping their home secure. A dog door also makes it possible for you to stay away from your house all day without coming home to let your dog out.
Benefits of an Electronic Smartdoor for Dogs
Electronic dog doors have many high-tech benefits that traditional flap dog doors don’t have. Whereas manual dog doors can allow any animal to enter the house, electronic dog doors only open when an RFID card on the pet’s collar activates the door. This helps ensure secure access to the outdoors and indoors, whether or not you’re at home.
- Energy efficiency. Electronic pet doors have a sliding door that only opens when your pet needs to leave your house, and closes again as soon as your pet is outside. Unlike flap doors, which do not fit securely in the door frame, electronic pet doors are secure and help insulate your home against extreme temperatures outside.
- Security. Pet access is limited with an electronic dog door, and only an animal wearing an RFID chip on their dog collar can use the dog door. This means that the pet door is only accessible to your furry friend, and no other animals or people may use your door.
- Control. Electronic dog doors are a pet safe product that allow you to choose which of your pets is able to use your dog door. If you’d like to stop some of your pets from using the dog door, you can do that.
- Convenience. Electronic pet doors are convenient for pet owners who work all day and are unable to come home to let their pet out at the lunch hour.
- Independence. Automatic pet doors give pets the ability to act independently of their owner. For a pet that gets bored during the day, the pet door can provide entertainment and a richer life at home.
What to Consider When Choosing a Dog Door Location
When you’re choosing a location for your dog door, there are several things to consider.
Home value. Wall installation is a relatively common option for dog doors, but it’s important to consider that having a pet door in a location like a wall may affect your home’s value. If you’re worried about how the door will affect the value of your home, consider installing the pet door in one of your human doors. Having a door with a dog door in it has less impact on your home’s value because it's not hard to replace a door, but it may be more difficult to cover up or uninstall a dog door in a wall. Should you decide to sell your house, home buyers may take this into consideration.
Yard access. Consider what part of your yard your dog should be able to access, and what part of the house is most convenient for that part of your yard. If your yard has been fenced in or some parts of the yard are difficult to access from certain parts of the house, this should be remembered during the decision making process.
Interior access to the door. Make sure that wherever you’re planning to install your pet door, your dog will be able to access it from inside your house. Installing a pet door in a room that is frequently closed off from the rest of the house could impact the usefulness of the dog door in the future.
Tips for Dog Door Installation
As you get ready to install your new pet door, follow these instructions.
- Measure your dog to choose the right size door. The size of the dog door should be influenced by the adult full size of the dog. If your dog hasn’t finished growing yet, consider waiting until your dog is fully grown before selecting the right door for your pet.
- Always read manufacturers instructions. Read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to ensure that your pet door is properly installed. If the door is not installed according to the instructions, this could affect the warranty.
- When in doubt hire a contractor or handyman. Not everyone is comfortable performing DIY dog door installation. Remember that installing a dog door in your home’s wall or door could do damage to your home if the installation process is not done properly. Your dog door should come with all the instructions you need for installation, but if you’re not comfortable working with tools or performing home improvement projects, hire a contractor or handyman to do the work. When you’re hiring a handyman or contractor, look for someone who is licensed in your state (if it is required) and who has the proper experience and certification. Check references and vet at least two or three contractors or handymen before doing the job.
- Prepare your yard for dog door installation. Check the fence around your yard to ensure that your pet is unable to leave your property. Clear any toxic plants from your yard, and make sure your pet has somewhere comfortable to go - like a dog house or outside kennel. Do all this before installing a pet door in your home.
- Use proper safety equipment. Dog door installation typically involves working with power tools and sawing through materials that can generate hazardous dust. Use proper safety equipment like protective eye glasses, a respirator and work gloves. Always use power tools that have the proper safety mechanisms in place.
Pet Door in Stud Wall
A stick house is a house built with a wooden frame structure. Stud walls are made up of wood or steel studs that are usually spaced 16 or 24 inches apart. Between each stud is a hollow space with or without insulation. It’s typically pretty easy to install dog doors in stud walls because the hollow space between studs makes the perfect place for a pet door.
Installation of dog doors varies a bit depending on the dog door manufacturer, but when you’re installing a dog door in your stud wall, this is the general process you’re likely to use:
- Use a stud finder to locate a section of the wall that is free of studs, pipes and wires.
- Place the template against the interior wall and use the template to make lines on the wall where the door will go. Follow the instructions provided with the dog door to determine where the door will be installed on the wall.
- Use a drill to drill holes in the corners of the drawing on the wall, then use a jigsaw to connect the holes with cuts over each line of the drawing. Remove the drywall to reveal a hole in the wall. Remove insulation.
- Place the frame of the dog door into the hole, then place the center locator into the cutout. Push the center locator all the way through the frame to the other side of the wall, then mark the holes in the center locator and drill them.
- Use the holes marked through the wall to position the template on the other side of the wall.
- Mark, drill and cut out the template on the other side of the wall.
- Use wood to fill in any gaps in the wall around the dog door, then install the frame according to the instructions. Remember to waterproof your home’s exterior as you put the door in place.
While dog door installation in drywall isn’t the simplest task, it is overall simpler than installation in some other materials. When you’re choosing a dog door location for your home, especially if you’re considering installing a dog door in a wall, this may be as easy as installation can get.
Pet Door in Brick Wall
Installation of your pet door in a brick wall requires special masonry tools, like a reciprocating saw. It’s also important to wear the type of personal protective equipment that can protect you from silica dust while cutting through brick. If you don’t have these tools at home, hiring a professional contractor to install the pet door for you may be the most practical way to proceed.
Keep in mind that cutting through brick will require a longer pet door tunnel, as the brick wall will likely be tied to another wall on the inside. Before ordering your pet door, consider whether this will be an issue for the design of your pet door and also whether this will impact the effectiveness of your pet door. Some pets may find stepping through a tunnel of this type to be more challenging, so give thought to your pet’s own capabilities and limitations as you consider this type of pet door for your household.
Pet Door in Stucco Wall
Doggie door installation in a stucco wall is similar to installation in a brick wall. When you remove the stucco cut out from the wall, save it. This small square of stucco can be used to patch the hole in the event that you’d like to cover up your dog door in the future. Be sure to choose the proper tools for working with stucco.
Pet Door in an Exterior Door
Many homeowners choose to install their pet door in an exterior door in their home. Installation in a door is often easier than installing through a wall, and if you ever want to remove your dog door, you can do so by replacing the entire door. Know what kind of material the door is made of and take this into consideration as you choose the right tools for the job.
Bradley Building Products sells high-quality PlexiDor microchip pet doors because they’re well made pet products and the best dog door for the cost. The door comes with a locking system for your home’s security and a collar key that ensures your pet is the only animal that can access the door or use it to enter your home. There are many ways that dog owners are helped by having dog doors. Find out more about how the PlexiDor dog and cat door can help you.