Doggie Door

[AliandShooter]

So my dog is potty trained, but we recently had a job change although I only work 3 days a week I work 12 hour shifts. I don't have anyone who can let my dog out and its just harsh to have him hold it that long so Im considering getting a doggie door. Does anyone have any experience with this? I should also add he's 65 pounds

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I've never had a doggie door and wouldn't consider it for the following possible dangers (call me paranoid lol):

- Might ingest something outside and you wouldn't know what

- Could get stolen (yes, it happens sadly... most often to be used as bait dogs where illegal dog fighting is common)

- Could somehow get out of the yard and get lost

- If you have a garden could damage/dig up yard, bring parts of said yard inside the house and spread them everywhere

I'm sure there are things that I'm missing but those are the ones that came to mind right away.

An alternative might be to set up an emergency potty area inside the house (There are these grass "patch" things with a tray like kitty litter you can get).  Either that or hire some college student who lives nearby (if there are any) to just let him out for a quick pee.  

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree with this. I would never allow my dog to be outdoors unsupervised when nobody is home. (I don;t even allow my dogs to be alone in the yard unsupervised when I am home, lol.) There are just too many things that could happen. To the above list I would also add that I would not be thrilled to come home on a rainy, stormy day to find mud tracked everywhere, lol. 
However, I'm also not a fan of indoor potty areas. I think it is confusing for the dog, and I don;t want any dog to think it's okay to go potty indoors, ever.

I think you should look at the cost of hiring a dogwalker three times a week for the days when you're not home. That way, he can relieve himself and also get some exercise/playtime/companionship to break up that long 12 hour day. 

[AliandShooter]

Thank you ladies I will look into it I did consider a potty area, but didn't want the confusion. Unfortunately, this will be a problem for the next year as my husband is working out of town. My dog would bring in all the mud lol!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

I mean ideally you'd get a dog walker but if for some reason you can't get one then the potty area may be your last resort.  Cats can be trained to pee in one spot, so can dogs ;)

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

You can train your dog to a potty pad put right by the back door.  Murphy is the only one that I trained that way, but first time I ever knew about disposable potty pads, always used newspaper.

On the other hand I have had dogs for nearly 50 years and always had a dog door that opened to a laundry room that I could close off from the rest of the house.  Yes, something really bad could happen, but chances are small if you live in a quiet area. You cannot live a life in constant anxiety of what might possibly happen.  Do the best you can to prevent possible problems and move on.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So the dog would have to stay in a closed up laundry room for 12 hours? None of my dogs would have been very happy with that arrangement.
With all due respect, I don't think that not allowing a dog to be outdoors alone when nobody is home equates to "living a life in constant anxiety". I think it's just common sense. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Karen, three dogs would not fit into my laundry room but many laundry rooms are big enough. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm not talking about the size of the room, I'm talking about closing a dog up in a small space (and realistically, how big a room could it be, in most people's homes?) behind a solid barrier (closed door) for 12 hours.  JD would have gone crazy. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We live in Southern California where the weather is generally mild and more people have doggie doors than don't.  We don't live in an area that has coyotes that might jump the fence and attack the dogs, we have totally dog-proofed the yard (we even had cement poured as a footing under the newest sections of fence, the gate is kept locked.  We have had a doggie door for years and years and feel it is quite safe to do so.  If it is rainy they go outside just potty and come right back in. Our dogs have free reign of the house except if the weather is inclement and we will be out, then I restrict them to the tile-floored den/kitchen area with the doggie door by putting an ex-pen across the doorway to the rest of the house.  (My dogs honor this but my daughter's dogs do not so when we are dog sitting it is a fun ride....)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, it sounds like you have solved what would be one of my biggest concerns: the dog digging out under the fence. I am absolutely certain that given enough time and lack of parental controls, lol, Jasper would dig himself right out of the yard and be running in the streets. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I learned the hard way to be super sure the fence itself was secure.  When Ned was young there was a loose board that he apparently went in and out of - you'd think it was a cartoon movie or something like that.  The neighbors told me they thought they saw Ned in the front yard, but I didn't believe them because he was always back in the house greeting me when I came home, until one day I caught him in the act of going back through the loose board - he took his paw and slid it sideways.  I am obsessive about checking that the gate is secured from the inside.  The gardener left the gate unlatched and Clancy got out when he first came to live with us.  Luckily I went out front as he was looking around all lost.  As soon as he saw me, he came running to me.  While our dogs never dug under the fence ( they will dig however), others might, so we had the cement poured under the footings.  We also extended the height of our fence when we rebuilt it.

Two lucky lessons that taught me how careful one needs to be with their precious pups.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Jasper has been a digger since he was at his breeder's house; the whole litter was. Even with me out in the yard with him, he will still try to get at a stick, a leaf or some other object on the other side of the fence by working his paws under the bottom wire and digging. I stop it immediately, but that's because I'm there to see it, lol. 

Digging is to me one of the most obnoxious of dog habits and one of the hardest to control. Dogs are given up because of it. My neighbor's dog, who was Jack's best friend, was rarely invited over because he was a major digger. Even if a dog doesn't try to escape the yard, it's still a problem. You can't correct a behavior if you don't see it. Dogs who are allowed to practice their digging skills alone in a yard become really good at it, sometimes to the point of obsession (boredom can do that) and the behavior reinforces itself.  One of the many reasons I don't leave dogs alone in the yard. :)