The Pet Door by Nancy Ringo

Today I woke up to my dogs barking like crazy in the kitchen. I went to see what was happening and much to my dismay they had cornered a squirrrel in the corner of the laundry room, and were trying to play with it. I had to get a broom and sweep it or kind of push it out the pet door and hold my dogs back as it ran away. What can I say about the pet door? It is convienant because my dogs can go in and out as they please and I don't have to always be getting up and letting them out when they scratch on the door. I don't have to worry ever about accidents in the house because they can just go and relieve themselves as needed. Sometimes I walk them and they refuse to go to the bathroom and I really think its because they want the privacy of the backyard. Having the pet door helps with that situation. So the pet door would seem like it would be the perfect solution to that kind of problem doesn't it? And it seems as if the dogs would be happier. It allows alot of flexibility as to when I can walk them. All seems to be great with it right? Well it does come with additional problems.
The main problem is that it doesn't limit any other things that might like to come on in and enjoy my home. First there was the bird. I don't know how he got in. He must have been brought in by the dogs. A bird does not usually fly low on the ground where the pet door is. He was on my kitchen floor when I found him and he was dead. I don't have a clue how he died. The dogs were uninterested in him. He didn't have any marks on him like they had killed him. I think he must have been injured and just hobbled into the pet door looking for a place to die. But I was not happy that I had to figure out how to dispose of him properly and I felt sorry for the little guy.

Then was the squirrel. One of many maybe but I am not sure. I have a huge beautiful Oak tree in my backyard and the squirrels just love it. You can never look out there and see the tree without several squirrels running up and down the branches. So many people think they are cute. I don't think this to be the case at all. They are just rats with bushy tails. They scavenge for food anywhere they can. I could not believe one actually had the nerve to come into my house. This one was not even one bit scared of my dogs. It looked like it had tried to get my bread off the kitchen counter and run with it. I don't think this would have been the first time as I have often wondered where the bread went or who was eating so many sandwiches. And I blamed my dog for bringing an empty bread package and leaving it in the back yard. This squirrel knew exactly what it was doing! And he was not a welcomed guest.

Lastly was the day of the duck. It was this past fall when the geese were flying south for the winter that one became ill or injured and fell and landed in my backyard. My dogs decided this poor duck was a fun toy to play with. They didn't try to hurt him but they spent hours and hours chasing him around the backyard before I realized what they were doing. I guess when it got brave it ran straight through my pet door and through my kitchen and ended up on the front door hallway refusing to move. Did I mention that I have a severe fear of ducks and geese? I can't tell you why or where it came from but I am more scared of them than I ever would be of snakes! I was way too scared to pick up the duck and he also seemed to have a hurt wing so I didn't want to hurt him even more. So I called animal control to come and get him. Because I was so scared of him being in my house I spent a good 3 hours just frozen in fear until someone came to pick him up.

So this brings me to the point of the pet door being benificial. After all these incidents and there were many more. I just chose the ones that were the most impact on me, I have still decided that the pet door works for my home and my dogs. I just tend to keep it closed a little more often than I used to. Especially in the winter because I can surely do without the ducks.