It's a common feature in many a dog owner's home to find their home installed with doggie doors.
Still, despite being experienced dog owners, you could still face some problems that have to do with your dog doors.
It never hurts to learn something new about what you may already know - here's a list of those problems, so you can plan ahead in case you're buying a new dog door.
Forgetting to lock the doggy door.
The point behind buying a dog door is convenience - so you don't have to let the dog in and out constantly, but this laxness that develops over time can bite you back.
You may have had to take care of some errands or some extra work and fail to come home on time - that means the dog is still capable of coming in and out as it pleases.
The reverse can also be a problem - when you lock the dog door and you forgot to check whether the dog is actually back inside safely.
You could just lock your pet outside.
Even automatic dog doors can pose problems.
With automatic dog doors, the same virtual no worry feature is present - the door opens and closes, but only to your dog, who wears a special collar.
This way, only an animal with the special collar the door senses can activate the door's opening and closing.
This is well and good, but when the batteries on the collar run out and the dog is outside, that's a problem.
Unless you have someone else at home who can let your dog in, it might get stuck outside.
If your bedroom or work room is far from the door outside of which you're locked-out dog is probably barking at, you may not be able to let your dog back in.
Poor dog.
Also, there are cases involving automatic doors where the collared dog brings home a friend-dog.
The friend-dog walks into the door immediately after the collared-dog, so they both get in.
Dog door height.
If you own a toy dog or several medium dogs, that already reduces the chances of other larger dogs (not yours) getting inside.
The thing is, dogs are a resourceful bunch - they can squeeze their way in through openings.
That problem extends when the dog grows in size.
Suppose the dog door has remained the same height? The results could be an ill-fitting door or eventual injuries to the dog that has not choice but to use the same door over and over.
Lack of insulation - loss of heat or cold.
Should you have a few dogs, that means a lot of comings and goings, or various times a "window" is left open for a few seconds.
if you live in an are that's cold climate most of the year, think of the heat loss the dog door can cost you.
It's the same problem when you live in an air-conditioned house.
The air leakage made constant by the dogs' comings and going increase your energy costs.