Monday, January 28, 2013

Doggie Door

This post is about the best $42.75 I’ve spent in a LONG time.
Both dogs have been sleeping inside the house for the past couple of months. We’ve had a few really cold nights lately and felt bad about leaving the dogs outside (even after last year’s incident). We’ve finally established a routine – they get to stay in bed until one of us is ready to go to sleep, then a quick trip outside for any final business, and finally they curl up in their own beds …of course they both end up in bed with us at some point in the night. Also a part of that routine- Ringo waking us up in the middle of the night needing to go outside. The first couple weeks I was just happy he was waking us up instead of pooping inside the house. But then I got tired of getting out of my nice warm bed and having to stand out in the cold while they did their business. So we decided to get a doggie door.
I ordered this one from Amazon and it arrived a couple days later. We were both nervous about cutting into the door, but we decided just to go for it. It was pretty simple to install – we used the insert to determine where we wanted the door, traced the outline, drilled holes in all four corners, and then used a jigsaw to cut it out. I wish I would have taken a picture of the inside of the door. It was aluminum on both sides, but styrofoam in the middle….pretty interesting. Ringo supervised the installation.
My parents have a doggie door, so Abby learned how to use one while staying there during Thanksgiving and Christmas break. She jumped through right away and was bouncing around the house with excitement. Ringo wasn’t sure about it and just stared at us through the door waiting for us to let him back inside. After a little practice he figured it out and now thinks it’s the best thing ever. Plus they love that the door is see-thru so they can check out what’s going on in their yard.
*I still need to touch-up the paint around the door. It got scuffed by the jigsaw during installation.
We’ve made it three nights without either of the dogs waking us up and no accidents. I’m calling this project a success!
It’s not the prettiest before and after picture, but it might be my favorite!

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