3Ben, do not do it!
I'm 5'10", 150 lbs, wide shoulders and not flexible at all, and I just slid a 12"x12" picture frame down my entire body!
I'm not a big guy by any means, but I'm not overly skinny either...and remember, plenty of thugs are in their teens and lanky. I'd say that doggy door is a DEFINITE security risk.
As everyone knows, someone who really wants to get in, will get in. But with that door, any random punk who's not chunky around the middle could easily get in while you're at work. And I've got a lab too, and she barks at visitors twice and then goes over with tail wagging hoping for a belly rub.
Even the ones with the electronic collar are easily fooled by even the least motivated burglar. I could stand outside the doggy door when you aren't home and whistle, dog comes close to the door and trips the sensor. Bingo.... Or if the dog stays outside, simply call Fido over and take his collar off. Hold it next to the door and you're inside in 30 seconds. Easy.
All your neighborhood teenagers that don't have the balls to break a window are going to take notice of this weakness. They'll be thinking, "I can break in, steal a few smaller things every once in a while and he'll just think he misplaced them."
And the REAL criminals are thinking, "I can get in silently at night while they're asleep... That 16 year old daughter sure is developing nicely..."
By the way, my dad(who lives alone) had an incident with some neighborhood kids similar to the other scenario. He kept misplacing small amounts of money. Then he lost his cell phone when he thought he left it on the counter while he went to work. The cell phone bill showed he bought rap ringtones before he cut the phone off. Then he came back one night and noticed a root beer opened on the kitchen counter... he hates root beer and only buys them for when I visit...
The night of the mystery root beer, he was videotaping a History Channel show with the VCR while he was out. When he went to watch it, halfway through the show the TV started flipping through the channels and settled on the movie "Drumline." They changed the channel back after their movie was over.
Needless to say he realized what was going on and battened down the hatches. He noticed one of the back windows didn't lock properly while he was securing his place. We aren't sure it was neighborhood kids, but if it had been an adult, they would've taken the TV, computer, his prescriptions... and...ALL HIS GUNS! And that's only if they hadn't shot him first! After the police came to take prints off the root beer bottle, and after that window was secured, the problems ended. My guess is that the whole neighborhood noticed the police cars and the young thug(s) got a little nervous.
Any young local thugs will DEFINITELY exploit the doggy door... they know how many cars will be gone when no one is home, they know your routines, they know your dog doesn't bite, they very well might have even been inside already... invited by YOU! Don't be paranoid, but they already know everything they need to know! Plus, if you catch them in your yard, they'll have a plausible denial because they're your freaking neighbors!
