Housetraining Your Puppy - When A Doggy Door Is NOT A Good Idea

A few weeks ago, we had a PetSafe Doggy (Pet) Door installed in the back screen door. Both Alvin and Simon are past the "housetraining your puppy" phase and we were just plain tired of playing doorpersons. The idea was to allow them free access into and back from the fenced-in yard.

Alvin overcame his fear of the door's clicking magnets first. Simon decided that if Alvin could go through the door, so could he. Easy entry and exit happened in one day.

The whole doggy door concept is wonderful, even though you tend to loose control of their whereabouts. And quiet dogs outside usually means some kind of trouble.

And the loss of control and visibility is exactly the reason why you do NOT want to install a doggy door until AFTER your pup is house trained. It's a convenience for older dogs, but a nightmare if you need to keep a puppy on a schedule.

If a young pup disappears outside, how do you know what he did or did not eliminate? And how do you know the next time he's supposed to go out? Seems like a doggy door might set back house training a few weeks!

So a doggy door is a good thing AFTER house training your dog is finished. Gotta remember that when Theodore makes his entrance!

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In case you need a little help housetraining your puppy!

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