Is doggy door truly a safety risk?

[cassandrasdaddy]

you left out what fun it can be when the chickens get out and your chicken killing lab chases a couple in the house before she kills em. its messy

 

[wishin]

i could get through that hole till i turned 42

At the waist?

Seriously though, in todays world of technology is it possible that the doggy door with electronics is also available with an alarm sensor that would activate a siren/horn should it be breached? Hooked to alarm system?

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

at the waist! i do have to turn sideways i was a 28 till i turned 40 a 30 at 42. i didn't drive rode a bike 25 miles a day at the least. kept me in great shape

 

[mtravinski]

I'd weigh in on the side of not a safety risk. While you have added an access point, you have also added a deterrent. Doggy door says doggy, which is a pain in the ass to robbers. Anyone that isn't deterred by a dog of unknown make or model, probably isn't going to bother squeezing through a doggy door, they'll just smash your windows and come in guns a blazing.

That said, there are probably a few tweakers out there that won't think things through and start crawling through that door, but overall, I think the risk assessment favors installing the door.

 

[scythefwd]

wishin - there are alarms that are magnetically triggered. One magnet moves too far away from the other and it goes off. Set that at night and you would have your alarm. With a little fun wiring, you could have a doggy door that unlocks with a collar that doesn't sound the alarm when your dog comes through, but sets off the sirens when it is forced open and the collar isn't near.

Think relays to accomplish this.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

You can get dog doors that have a piece of sheetmetal you slide down to block the opening when you want the door closed.

At night: dog training. You don't want the dog waking you up or getting into trouble outdoors while you are sleeping

 

[LeontheProfessional]

All someone needs to do is reach in the doggy door and unlock the door. I have used this technique to get into several homes. Not for breaking and entering but because people got locked out.

 

[mothermopar]

Just install a big doggy door and get a Doberman to go with it! Lol

Honestly... There are doggy doors that have magnetic locks that disengage when near a 'fob' that you attach to the dogs collar. That'll keep out wild critters. You can always workup additional security bars or whatever for night time.

Or flashbangs! Lol

 

[Beaux Nehr]

Well, here's something to think about:

Once I got locked out of my house while the parents were out of town, and having a wingspan of 6'5" I simply reached into the doggy door and unlocked the door.

Now, I really had to stretch, and it hurt, but I was able to unlock the one-sided deadbolt above the doorknob. That freaked me out.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I say no real risk. If the door is big enough for a man to get through, it's that big for a reason.

I'm 49-1/2" at the shoulders and could squeeze through mine. But any crook who decides to try will find 108 pounds of German Shepherd standing over him on the other side, and none too happy about his presence.

 

[Salty1]

I can see an advantage for doggie doors if one has small dogs, I have 2 golden retrievers and would need a fairly large one for them to get through. My issue is that if somebody crawled through it they potentially could have them licked to death before they made it inside. One of the goldens is a rescue that we picked up a few months ago, he was used to a doggie door and it took a while to break him of the fact that he can not go in and out as he pleases and he did not want to stay outside alone because he could not just come in when he got bored. He is getting better and that made me think that free reign to come and go as he pleases is not practical for me even though the yard is fenced in. IMO if the dog is properly trained then they will not mess in the house and letting them in and out is no big deal..... it gets me away from my computer....