Hi, I'll post some progress pics as we progress on the fence. We need a different yard for the dogs, every year since we moved here we get huge "blob" snowdrifts that get so tall the dogs can literally walk over their fence underneath, moving the fence in is not fun in the spring when some of the frozen #1 and #2 partially defrost in the very small area they end up in.
Does any of you have experience or ideas with automatic dog doors? And I should mention the new entry will be facing north winds, I am wondering about coons and skunks too.
We have gone through several variations of dog doors over the years. We wound up with the Solo brand magnetic ones and they are the only ones that are even close to weather-tight. They work well, but they require a substantial hole to be cut in your door or wall. In your situation with cold and blowing snow, you are going to have trouble with any of them. If you want to discuss more, p.m. and I'll give you my cell phone #.
We have had these types. We found that our sliding door openings were too small after we put them in. Also, anything with a "flap" will leak air, wind, etc. Just my experience.
The one we had was not a flap but rather a solid plastic or something that stayed shut magnetically. Never had trouble with weather blowing in and it was on the very outside exposure. It swung to the direction of the dog's travel....that is if he was going out or in, all he had to do was push against it. It was installed in a 6' sliding door and yeah, was a little tighter than normal, but two things regarding that. 1. Never really opened the sliding door all the way to get in or out before the dog door was installed when we used the door. 2. Sure beats the hell out of getting up to let the dog out every time he wanted in or out!
We still have one dog (greyhound of course) out of six who never adapted to the magnetic door, so as long as he is around, we have to have one of those sliding door/flappy type dog doors too. Wind blows right in during winter. Oh well, as you said, at least he can do his business without bothering us. It's worth it.
Have you thought of building a box on the outside of the flappy door? Sort of a two door entrance like stores have in cold climates. When it is cold (for here), we can shut the utility room door to provide the break from the breeze of the outside door. The utility door also has a dog door in it.
Bingo, the dogs and cat have me very well trained on getting up and down for the back yard, but across the house to the new yard, no thank you.
yup army buddy has doggie mud room 4 by 4 attached to house.. the double door keeps most wind down and snow out of house.. also keeps house cleaner as throw away carpet puo has to walk across first.. try to get pics when I go down there