dog door

[Richard S]

My two and a half year old Cocker bitch Holly has been quite happy, up to recently, to use her dog door to come in and go out of the kitchen when she pleases. But now she stands barking waiting to be invited before she will come in or go out. She will still use her door on her own if she really wants to, but mostly she just stands and barks. I have to give her permission, which detroys the whole point of having a dog door. She has taken to going out for a pee at 5.30 am and then standing barking until I wake up and shout down to her to come in. This is really silly. Has anyone come across this behaviour before? What on earth can I do to stop it?

[Silver Surfer (indiesnan)]

Hi Richard, i can't give you any advice on the door i'm afraid, as weve never used one.

Just a thought though, is it possible , Holly might have banged herself on it in some way, and is waiting for your reasurrance, thats its alright to go through it.  :?                    

[Richard S]

Thanks. But she still uses it if she is really determined to come in or go out. I have taken to blocking it off overnight so that the neighbours aren't woken up at 5.30 am!

[PennyB]

I had to block our catflap off as well so that my two couldn't go out and howl at the moon or whatever—its one thing running round the house in your underwear but I got a little fed up of running round the garden at 2 a.m. in next to nothing to drag mine in who were having a wonderful time barking round the garden at stupid o'clock.                    

[Mary P]

I was thinking about getting a dog door, but this post has really put me off :shock:
The stories did amuse me though - sorry                    

[PennyB]

I was thinking about getting a dog door, but this post has really put me off :shock:
The stories did amuse me though - sorry

They are very useful though during the day. I alsways remember when Ruby learnt how to go through the catflap as a pup by watching the cats and the Frankie (big fat tabby) thought it was hilarious to stand at the other side and bat it every time she put her head through to go out LOL                    

[Jan/Billy]

Yep Billy uses a dog flap and it is wonderful.He can come in and out at his pleasure          The only problem is that he brings in things from the garden through the dog flap and into the house. Last week he brought in the door mat, a football, his water bowl and a few branches of a tree he had attacked!!! I spend half my time cleaning up after him. I find bits of stones trees etc all over the house that he has sneeked in when i wasnt looking  :roll:  :roll:  :roll:  :roll:  He also sneeks things out of the house too!!!!!!

We are undecided at the moment whether to leave the flap open during the day when we go out. We have high walls round our garden ( about 8 ft) and the garden gate is locked. We have never left it open when we are not in but in the summer days it seams such a shame that he cant sunbathe. I am frightened that he may get stolen. Does anyone else leave theirs open during the day if they go out?                    

[PennyB]

Yes I leave mine open during the day when I'm not in. Like yours my garden is secure and it would probably take 2 of them to lift them over the walls if they tried (the gate is solid and locked) and so it would look very suspicious.                    

[LesleyP]

It was a relief to hear of someone having the same problem as us.  Bob destroyed our cat flap just after we got him, whilst chasing the cats.

We have put on a dog flap now and he will quite happily go out through it but barks like crazy whilst hitting the door to come in.  No amount of coaxing, holding open, treats etc stops him from coming back in.  I suspect it was because on one occasion there was a cat on the other side patting the door not letting him in, but like you the noise at 5.30 am (I am an early riser) did prompt a complaint from the neighbours.   Thank goodness for the warmer weather so I can leave the door open.  Otherwise we now lock the flap and he asks to go out.  The cats are obviously not very happy about this.

I will ask for advice from our trainer who is due to come next Saturday and let you know what she says.

Lesley & Bob                    

[LesleyP]

We had a very nice lady (Heidi) come round from the APDT on Saturday.  What a wealth of advice and understanding.  I really should have gone there in the first place.

We asked about the dop flap problem and Heidi tried with us to get Bob to come back without barking and biting.  Unfortunately we failed.

Heidi said and we agreed.  It causes too much stress and excitement in an already very excitable pet so advised to leave well alone for a while and maybe go back to trying later in the year, when hopefully any bad memories will be at the back of his mind.  

Not a lot of help I am afraid but I thought I would let you know.

Lesley                    

[Cob-Web]

I hope no-one minds my resurecting this post, but while considering the numerous items I will need to buy for 'pup' I have reached the 'dog door' section of the catalogues  :wink:

Could I canvass opinion about dog doors? Good idea or bad? Useful or troublesome?

We have an enclosed garden, secured to prevent dog escape, but a determined intruder could probably climb/clamber to enter if he/she wished too - although once in, unlikely to be able to climb out, especially with a Cocker under his/her arm. We live in a cul-de-sac on an estate, with overlooking houses.

If this has already been discussed elsewhere, could someone point me in the right direction - thanks!                    

[gc]

......she just stands and barks. I have to give her permission, ...... What on earth can I do to stop it?

Hello,
I would start trainning her again to use the door(even though she seems to know that), and when she passes with no barking, give her a good cuddle and rarely a cookie. Also, for the time being, I would try and change her morning hours just in case she starts barking again! Somehow, she feels that waiting for your 'permission' will please you...Try to show her that this doesn't please you...

g'luck,
George.                    

[TOPAZ BILLY]

I hope no-one minds my resurecting this post, but while considering the numerous items I will need to buy for 'pup' I have reached the 'dog door' section of the catalogues  :wink:

Could I canvass opinion about dog doors? Good idea or bad? Useful or troublesome?

We have an enclosed garden, secured to prevent dog escape, but a determined intruder could probably climb/clamber to enter if he/she wished too - although once in, unlikely to be able to climb out, especially with a Cocker under his/her arm. We live in a cul-de-sac on an estate, with overlooking houses.

If this has already been discussed elsewhere, could someone point me in the right direction - thanks!

Hi Rachel,

We use a dog door, Billy got used to it very quickly but Abby is still learning she can come in but isn't to keen on following Billy out.  

If your garden is secure and the dog is going to be left alone for any length of time a dog door is a good idea or at least it works for us.


Michelle                    

[fudgesmammy]

Rachel- we live in a very similar house to yours it sounds. Our garden is secure- two giant locked gates and a huge fence- we live on a quiet estate, in a cul de sac overlooked by at least 6 other houses (some of which have very nosey inhabitants) and we have a dog flap for Fudge.
We find this a great comfort when we are out as it means she can go for a run around the garden etc.
However, we went on holiday a few months ago and came back to find our back door keys lying on the front lawn and the bottom deadlock on the back door undone aswell as the back door lock itself. It seems that someone reached in through the dog flap, got hold of the back door keys and tried to get into the house. Not one neighbour saw anything or heard anything and no one else's dogs, security lights or anything were triggered at any point that week. Odd eh?
We do feel the dog flap is a security weakness for the house now, a child could easily go through it (a skinny 12 year old even?) to unlock for their accomplices.
We haven't blocked the flap up as we still want Fudge to have the extra space but we live in quite a low crime area. I guess you'll have to weigh the two issues up.                    

[PennyB]

Am so glad mine are small enough to still be able to use the catflap!