Access to Your Home for Your Cold Dog

Difficult though it may be to believe, not everyone’s dog lives inside. In fact, the majority of dogs in the world live outside. With this in mind, there will be times when even the most enthusiastic outdoor dog will want to come inside, especially if the area you live in is prone to cold snaps, deep snow or freezing rain. However, these times are not always going to coincide with when you are home or are awake. There are many ways to have her enter through a door that now won’t shut. The consequences of this may be compromising your home and your safety as well as driving up your heating bills. Indeed if Angie comes home in the middle of the night, not prone to being the stealth your cat is, she is likely to wake your whole family out of a sound sleep. Yes, all this exists and allows Angie to come inside and where she won’t freeze her tail off.
Basement Access

Assuming you have a home with a basement, this is the most common way to go about it for a few reasons. The basement is always cooler, so a little extra cold air won’t affect much of anything. You can set up a home away from home for Angie by putting down a bed, dry food and water so that she won’t try to come upstairs while nobody is home or everyone is asleep. You can set up your basement access through the old fashioned ‘doggie door’. You can do this by simply cutting out a door in your door and set it up with a sturdy flap such that she can push through. You can even insulate it so that cold air doesn’t seep through the dog door and make the rest of the house chilly.

Garage Access
Another common way to let Angie shelter from the cold is through the garage. If you decide to go this route, it’s paramount to make sure that the garage is kept clean and that car fluids, tools, and things like oil and antifreeze are kept well out of the way or your dog’s home can turn into her deathbed. Once you’ve cleaned up your garage, you can set up a place for Angie to sleep and make sure it has a small supply of food and water out of the way of your work area. Once you’ve set things up, you can install a doggie door into the side of the garage or into the garage access door and insulate it the same way you would any dog door.

Garage access should only be used if you can keep it clean and you don’t mind watching your step when you leave the next morning in your car! However, if you can make it dog suitable, the garage is a great place to keep large dogs safe and warm in bad weather without compromising the heat or comfort of your home.

Straight Into the House
Depending on how well trained Angie is and how comfortable you are with it, you can give your dog access to your home through a dog door installed in a side door. (You probably don’t want to go for the front door unless your dog has access to the front yard since you will likely have your dog fenced in while you’re out). If you decide to be this magnanimous, then be sure that first, your dog is trained enough to stay off the furniture and not make any messes and secondly that you have a safe place for her to stay that won’t cause your home any problems.

The best way to do this is to use a side door that goes into a room that can have the door shut so you can keep your dog contained to one part of the home. Conversely you can contain your pet by making sure doors to all the bedrooms are shut while you’re out of the house.

Remember, even the most outdoor loving dog may want to come inside once in a while and when this happens, you can’t always count on being home to let him or her in. Nobody wants to be outside on those especially cold days. By taking a few easy steps, you can keep your dog warm while at the same time your home safe.

Puppy City has been around for over 50 years, we pride ourselves in being the home for quality puppies for sale in Brooklyn, New York. We also have all of the supplies you will ever need, from dog food, to wee wee pads, to all the treats you will ever need in a lifetime. Visit us at http://www.PuppyCityNY.com