Pet Doors

[Joan C Hatfield]

I am looking for an automatic pet door as my dog won't push a traditional dog door open.  I've seen ads for such a door by High Tech Pet Products, Inc..  Has anyone tried it?  Your dog wears a collar that senses it nearing the door and will open via battery sensor.  Sounds pretty cool and not bad looking but it's not cheap so I wonder if anyone has experience with it.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I don't but my dogs were afraid of the pet door on day one. I worked it out by coaxing them with treats and balls etc. By day 2 they were pros and they use the pet door daily.

[Christine & Shelby]

I've never heard of such a thing.... how much training have you done to try and teach your dog to use a standard dog door?   I just concerned if the dog is fearful of pushing a door with his head... having one open as he approaches could be equally concerning and if it starts to close on him.... he may never approach it again.  Do you have any friends with dog doors installed where you can try to do some training.   My apologies if you've already done all this.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

We have a traditional doggie door and Cubbie took to it with no problems.  Ollie was another story.  My DH and I literally had to stand on opposite sides of the door and hold the plastic up and then hold a treat in front of Ollie's nose and he would eventually come through.  Gradually he started to come through without the treat (as long as we were holding the plastic up).  Once we got that far, we went back to using the treats and would let the plastic flap touch his tail, and then his lower back, and upper back, and finally the back of his head.  He wasn't happy when we started letting the plastic rub against him, but eventually he got comfortable with it and now he flies out the door with incredible speed.  :)