If you hate constantly getting up and down to let your dog in and out of the house, we’ve got just the thing for you. Doggy doors provide the perfect solution to this scenario, but there sure are plenty of them out there. How can you tell which one would be best dog door for your home – and more importantly, for your dog?
Simple – continue reading our dog door review here, which comes complete with a full buying guide to help you make the best choice for your home. Get ready – there is more to a dog door than meets the eye…
What should the perfect dog door offer? You’ll spot various features cropping up time and again, with some far more important than others. Quality, security, and size all feature high on the list.
The following selection contains some of the best dog doors you can buy and install, offering you a wide range of options to choose from. Some may be more appropriate for your needs than others, but they’ll show you how diverse those designs can be. Which one is your pooch going to love… or turn their tail up at?
The Best Dog Doors
1. PetSafe Wall Entry Aluminum Dog Door
If you want to install your doggy door in a wall, this is definitely going to be the best dog door for you. It comes in three sizes, so it suits most dog breeds. It is also made from aluminium, so it ensures a long-lasting door even when subjected to repeated daily use and the elements.
It comes with installation instructions and is simple to fit, with no additional framing materials required. It also features two flaps to better insulate your home and prevent excessive heat loss.
An extra slide-in panel is required when you need to fully close the door, for example at night.
2. Ideal Pet Products Designer Series Dog Door
This affordable solution provides a strong plastic door that can be purchased in four practical sizes.
The flap is made from tinted vinyl, designed to make sure even the most extreme temperatures won’t cause it to twist or warp.
The bottom of the flap features a magnetic strip, which means the flap automatically goes back into the closed position against the frame after each use. It won’t flap around and allow heat loss to occur. If anything does happen to the flap, you can easily purchase a replacement from the same brand.
You also get a panel to slide into place for secure night-time locking.
3. PetSafe Extreme Weather Dog Door
If you want to make sure your doggy door is good for use in all weathers, this PetSafe model is one of the best all-weather dog doors available today.
Designed for use in the most extreme weather conditions, it comes in three sizes and has no fewer than three flaps to provide the best insulation properties.
The flaps are tinted and adjustable, and you can even paint the plastic door frame to ensure it fits nicely into your existing door. To complete the product, it also comes with a closing panel to put into place in seconds for added security whenever required.
4. Ideal Pet Products Designer Series Ruff-Weather Dog Door
This Ideal Pet Products item is available in four sizes. As the name suggests, it has been designed to cope with the worst weather.
The door is designed with two vinyl flaps, each of which includes a magnetic strip along the bottom. When the flap falls back into place, it automatically touches the magnetic strip on the bottom of the frame, sealing the space once more.
Water and debris remain outside where it should be, and the heat remains inside your home. The dog door also comes with its own sliding panel to lock it whenever needed.
5. Freedom Patio Sliding Doors Dog Door
If you are searching for a doggy door solution for patio doors, this Freedom dog door lives up to its name. It comes in five size options and is designed to fit into the existing tracks of your patio doors.
Made from a stylish combination of aluminium and safety glass, the door is installed into the existing frame and still allows the remainder of the patio doors to be used whenever required.
Comes with weather stripping, UltraSeal flexible flaps to keep the cold out and the heat in, and fits doors sliding either to the right or the left.
Things to Keep in Mind when Buying Dog Doors
Where to begin? Having a dog door is the perfect solution if you want your pooch to have access to the back yard whenever they wish. Rather than waiting to be let out or trying to get your attention, they can just head through the door and do their business whenever it suits them.
If you’ve decided a dog door is the ideal solution for you, go through our advice below to get an idea of the features you should be looking at before you buy.
Which size dog door should I get?
You should start with size because this is the most important factor. If you spot the perfect dog door but it’s too small, it’s not going to be any use. Some doors come with a recommendation for breeds that should be able to use it just fine. However, always look at the interior measurements for the door. You’ll need the external measurements when you want to check the space it needs to be fitted in, but you want to know your dog fits through it too.
The better options come in several sizes as well, in which case you can just choose the right measurement. If you have two dogs with one larger than the other, always measure according to the biggest breed. In this case though, you’ll need to make sure the smaller dog can still use the doggy door. Some might struggle to lift the flap on a larger door.
What is it made from?
Plastic dog doors are very popular, but there are other options. Aluminium with glass panels or flaps and even wooden framed ones are possible to buy. we’ve also seen dog flaps made from vinyl, so they are more flexible than other alternatives.
Consider which option would look best with your décor. You might also want to be sure you choose a door that has been robustly made. Some also allow you to paint or stain the frame to suit your color scheme. These tend to be at the pricier end of the market, but they’re worth considering if you’d like the dog door to blend in.
What sort of access features does it have?
Most dog doors have flaps, so the dog can head it up out of the way and go in or out of the house. We think it is worth paying more for a doggy door with a magnetic closure if you can. This means the door securely closes once the dog has used it. If nothing else, it stops it maddeningly flapping around in the slightest breeze – something that is sure to drive you nuts!
Some doors come with separate removable panels you can insert in the door at night. These lock into place and prevent the door from being used. Others have electronic features. The idea is to fit a chip to your dog’s collar – a chip that is recognized by your doggy door. This means only your dog can enter and exit your home. You won’t come home to find the neighbor’s cat curled up on your sofa!
Another potential feature to consider is whether the door has more than one flap. These doors can let a breeze into the house and allow warm air to leave it – not the best exchange. The best doors are insulated to make sure this doesn’t happen – or it is at least minimized.
How does it need to be installed?
There are three basic options available when choosing a dog door:
- Some dog doors are installed in the panels of other doors, i.e. in the back door out to the yard
- Some dog doors can be installed in walls (these are thicker and feature a tunnel design to allow for the thickness of the wall)
- Some dog doors fit inside the tracks of an existing door
The latter design is ideal if you want something easy to fit as you won’t need to cut into a door or wall to complete the installation. You do need sliding doors for it to work though. The door doesn’t fit in a regular doorway.
You can see a lot depends on how much work you want to do and what your home is like, not to mention the options you have for places to put the door.
Don’t forget security
The bigger the dog door is, the easier it would be for someone to go through it and access your home. That’s why lockable doors are essential. It is worth spending more to get a better-quality door with strong security features for this reason alone. Sure, some burglars may avoid homes with big dog doors as they could be met by a big dog if they try and break in. However, the more determined will see such a door as an invitation to enter… and that’s not a good thing.
Conclusion
Were you surprised at the variation of doggy doors for the home you can find out there today? This should reassure you, because once you have found out which type of door would best fit your home, you can be certain the right one is out there waiting to be found. While size is obviously important, you can see that quality, materials, and security are crucial areas to consider too. You want something you and your pooch will be happy and confident to use, right?
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