Need Advice For New Doggy Door For Giant Breed

[mish13]

I like my dogs to have access into my family room/ kitchen, I have a gate to stop them entering the rest of the house.

I currently have a large doggy door that my standard poodle gets through and my six month old Newfoundland can just get through. I have been looking at options to increase the size of the door so Grizzly can get through when he is fully grown.

The obvious thing was to go back to the company that cut the one in that I have now which is just a swinging flap of perspex. They have said due to the size of what I want they wont do it because they don't think the hinges would last.

Has anyone on here put in a doggy door for a giant breed dog, and yes I do realise that people can get through.

Any advice would be very welcome

[Fatsofatsoman]

edited for not reading that you realise people can get in - duh

Edited September 8, 2011 by Fatsofatsoman

[pipsqueak]

Somebody on DOL once said that they had "stable doors" instead of normal doors in their house, so they could leave top/bottom/both open or closed. I thought that it was a brilliant idea, but might not be what you want.

[Purdie]

What about one of those doors they have in restaurant kitchens that swing open in either direction with a soft close mechanism.They can be locked shut when needed.

[cointreau]

I don't have one but Pig in Mud make a door for giant breeds which fits into a sliding door and can also be locked. Stable door type is what I would regard as the ultimate door for a giant breed.

[espinay2]

I would probably go the stable door.

There is a bit of an old joke about dog doors for giant breeds. Put a sign over it to warn would be intruders. Something like this:

"this door is for a dog....think about it" ;)

[Rusky]

why not use a wooden fly screen door ? You can buy them cheaply and then only fly proof the top bit. Take out the middle wood bit at the bottom and make a swinging flap which can be locked. I say this cos we just realised we can do this with our fly screen door. Bunnings sell the fresco timber 3 for $179 but you can get on special or at a salvage yard.

[mish13]

Thank you for the suggestions so far, enpinay2 I love that saying.

I thought I would throw in a couple of photos of what I currently have, I was just looking at making this dog flap half again in height and half again in width. I cant find anyone willing to do it at this stage. I did look at the bunnings giant door but it was $399.00 so thought I would do a bit more research before spending that sort of money.

[Purdie]

Have a look at...www.petdoorcompany.com.au

[Rusky]

Thank you for the suggestions so far, enpinay2 I love that saying.

I thought I would throw in a couple of photos of what I currently have, I was just looking at making this dog flap half again in height and half again in width. I cant find anyone willing to do it at this stage. I did look at the bunnings giant door but it was $399.00 so thought I would do a bit more research before spending that sort of money.

ahhh I see now ...you need it made bigger ! do you belong to a dog club ? might find someone there who fixes the equipment to do it a little cheaper for you. There was a crew who made big pet doors ...maybe they are the ones suggested above this post. We have French doors not ranch sliders but even so it took me ages to work out what to do.

[mish13]

Have a look at...www.petdoorcompany.com.au

Thanks for that but I had found that web site but the door they show with a great dane walking through it is too small.

Thank you for the suggestions so far, enpinay2 I love that saying.

I thought I would throw in a couple of photos of what I currently have, I was just looking at making this dog flap half again in height and half again in width. I cant find anyone willing to do it at this stage. I did look at the bunnings giant door but it was $399.00 so thought I would do a bit more research before spending that sort of money.

ahhh I see now ...you need it made bigger ! do you belong to a dog club ? might find someone there who fixes the equipment to do it a little cheaper for you. There was a crew who made big pet doors ...maybe they are the ones suggested above this post. We have French doors not ranch sliders but even so it took me ages to work out what to do.

I have just joined a dog club so I will ask next Tuesday night when I go, thanks for the tip.

[newfoundlandandus]

I like my dogs to have access into my family room/ kitchen, I have a gate to stop them entering the rest of the house.

I currently have a large doggy door that my standard poodle gets through and my six month old Newfoundland can just get through. I have been looking at options to increase the size of the door so Grizzly can get through when he is fully grown.

The obvious thing was to go back to the company that cut the one in that I have now which is just a swinging flap of perspex. They have said due to the size of what I want they wont do it because they don't think the hinges would last.

Has anyone on here put in a doggy door for a giant breed dog, and yes I do realise that people can get through.

Any advice would be very welcome

Hi Mish13

Our lounge room faces the back yard and we have floor to ceiling windows with a glass sliding door that leads to the back yard .WE tried many manufacturers but they all said the same thing No ...... because of security purposes they dont make them so people can get in so we decided to make our own .We went and bought a length of laminated chipboard which went from ceiling to floor and fitted in to sliding door slot It was a about $20 a sheet.We measured height of Isaiah and width and used jigsaw to cut out a section so he could walk through them we got some heavy duty plastic and stapled it to laminated chipboard and it worked well It was white and could be wiped down easily. We just had the door open or shut as the door slid to the chipboard or we coulf put the chipboard in the security door section and still walk through the door way

I hope this gives you an idea I wish I had a photo for you but as Isaiah is with us all the time and has free reign thru the house We dont use that doggy door now

Goodluck

Jenny (Victoria)

[mish13]

I like my dogs to have access into my family room/ kitchen, I have a gate to stop them entering the rest of the house.

I currently have a large doggy door that my standard poodle gets through and my six month old Newfoundland can just get through. I have been looking at options to increase the size of the door so Grizzly can get through when he is fully grown.

The obvious thing was to go back to the company that cut the one in that I have now which is just a swinging flap of perspex. They have said due to the size of what I want they wont do it because they don't think the hinges would last.

Has anyone on here put in a doggy door for a giant breed dog, and yes I do realise that people can get through.

Any advice would be very welcome

Hi Mish13

Our lounge room faces the back yard and we have floor to ceiling windows with a glass sliding door that leads to the back yard .WE tried many manufacturers but they all said the same thing No ...... because of security purposes they dont make them so people can get in so we decided to make our own .We went and bought a length of laminated chipboard which went from ceiling to floor and fitted in to sliding door slot It was a about $20 a sheet.We measured height of Isaiah and width and used jigsaw to cut out a section so he could walk through them we got some heavy duty plastic and stapled it to laminated chipboard and it worked well It was white and could be wiped down easily. We just had the door open or shut as the door slid to the chipboard or we coulf put the chipboard in the security door section and still walk through the door way

I hope this gives you an idea I wish I had a photo for you but as Isaiah is with us all the time and has free reign thru the house We dont use that doggy door now

Goodluck

Jenny (Victoria)

Thanks Jenny I will get my husband to read your post and see if he could do the same, I am running out of time before he no longer fits in the current one.

[Rainy]

A friend of mine bought a fly screen door off the net that has magnets down the middle and you can just walk through it. She got it for her Dane. ill try and find a link.

ETA like this : http://www.globalshop.com.au/Product/203/20/BugMesh-Screen

Edited September 9, 2011 by Rainy

[sas]

I like my dogs to have access into my family room/ kitchen, I have a gate to stop them entering the rest of the house.

I currently have a large doggy door that my standard poodle gets through and my six month old Newfoundland can just get through. I have been looking at options to increase the size of the door so Grizzly can get through when he is fully grown.

The obvious thing was to go back to the company that cut the one in that I have now which is just a swinging flap of perspex. They have said due to the size of what I want they wont do it because they don't think the hinges would last.

Has anyone on here put in a doggy door for a giant breed dog, and yes I do realise that people can get through.

Any advice would be very welcome

My partner made our Great Dane doggy door (not for security obviously....a person could get through it but as you know whenyou have big dogs security isn't really a problem LOL).

It is perspex with hinges and holds up well. It took a while to teach the old girl how to use it, but the younger ones just bash it open. The sticker you see on it was to teach the puppy to target it to open the door.

[Kirty]

I think side hinges would be the way to go, with two flaps that open in the middle (like the old 'saloon' doors they had on the pubs you see in western movies).

[mish13]

I like my dogs to have access into my family room/ kitchen, I have a gate to stop them entering the rest of the house.

I currently have a large doggy door that my standard poodle gets through and my six month old Newfoundland can just get through. I have been looking at options to increase the size of the door so Grizzly can get through when he is fully grown.

The obvious thing was to go back to the company that cut the one in that I have now which is just a swinging flap of perspex. They have said due to the size of what I want they wont do it because they don't think the hinges would last.

Has anyone on here put in a doggy door for a giant breed dog, and yes I do realise that people can get through.

Any advice would be very welcome

My partner made our Great Dane doggy door (not for security obviously....a person could get through it but as you know whenyou have big dogs security isn't really a problem LOL).

It is perspex with hinges and holds up well. It took a while to teach the old girl how to use it, but the younger ones just bash it open. The sticker you see on it was to teach the puppy to target it to open the door.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions, rainy this wouldn't work for us because we still want to be able to lock the security door even thou a person could get through the bottom.

I do like this idea MEH because the man that built our other dog door said the hinges wont last with a bigger door. He was talking about the door hinging at the top but with bigger hinges and on the side he just might do it for us.I will show him this photo