I bought the PetSafe door shortly after our new house was built. I thought it would be the perfect solution to puppy accidents and the dreaded 3 am potty call. It works well, but I think we ended up with the reject door!

Appearance and Functionality:

Size: We purchased the large-sized door since our older dog is a Siberian Husky (21 inches high) and needed the elbow room, but our Chinese Crested (12 inches high)puppies had no problem hopping up to get through it. We were worried the pups might not be able to make it, or it would be too much of an effort and they’d just pee on the floor, but they took right to it and loved being able to go out whenever they wanted to. It was the old-lady husky who refused to use the door for a couple of days! The opening is 17 inches by 11.5 inches set 5 inches from the floor.

Flap: The transparent plastic flap is very thick, heavy duty, scratch and tear resistant, but light enough for even the smallest pups to push through. There are actually two flaps that create the seal for the door. Going one way, only the inner flap will push out, coming back the other way, both flaps move. The magnets are between these two flaps and around the outer flap to stick to the frame. The magnets are strong and typically seal very well, no noticeable drafts coming in around the sides or bottom. Since it's transparent, it helps a LOT in training dogs to use the door. Since they can see and hear you through the flap, they're more likely to push through it to get to you (or that tasty snack you're offering!)

Frame: The frame is kind of an ugly brown, but it’s in our laundry room leading out to the pet-only yard, so it’s not a big deal. It’s fairly strong, reasonably flexible during installation, and durable during use. There is a 'decorative' frame to cover the hole you have to cut in the door, but I use the term 'decorative' lightly.

Closing Panel: The closing panel is a neat feature, though we don’t use it. It’s just a flat board that can slide into the guides on the inside or outside of the pet door to keep your pets from using the door at all. We don’t need it since there is an inner door to our laundry room we can use if we need to isolate the dogs for whatever reason. If we didn’t have the inner door, we’d likely use this closing panel when we do yard maintenance in the pet yard.

Installation:
My friend came over to install this door for me since I’m kind of a weenie. He had to take the door off the hinges, measure and cut through, insert the PetSafe frame, then screw it in place. It took him less than 30 minutes from start to finish and he barely broke a sweat, so it looked pretty easy. Then again, I wasn’t heaving the door and cutting through solid wood! Detailed instructions come with the PetSafe door and there is a number to call if you have a problem.

Problems:
Within a week, the outer plastic flap ripped at the top where it screwed into the frame. It falls every few weeks. To fix it, we have to unscrew the frame again, slide the flap back up, re-screw, then cross our fingers it’ll stay. We can buy a replacement flap, but we’re still a little annoyed that it ripped after only a week of occasional use. Our puppies are grown now (9 months later), and fly in and out of that door at the speed of light. For the most part, even after being ripped, the outer flap seems to hold in place pretty good. I’m sure once we replace the flap it’ll be fine, but we’ll always be worried that the next one will break just as easy as the first did.

Minor issues include magnets not sealing all the way if they get dirty or the flap closes at an angle, and rain leaks in if the flap isn’t sealed properly.

Overall:
We’re fairly happy with this product and would suggest it mainly for the price and ease of installation. Since replacement flaps are available, it softens the blow of the flap ripping to begin with. If I had to buy another doggie door, I’d probably but from PetSafe again, but maybe pay a little extra for a different style.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 45