Step-Over Illustration

"Step-Over" is the height of the bottom of the pet door above the ground.  In other words, it is the height that the pet must "step over" to use the pet door.  (The term "rise" was coined by Patio Pacific in the 1990's and, at the time, it seemed a good choice. We now think "step-over" conveys the meaning more clearly to our customers).

This dimension is extremely important!

The top of the flap is ideally placed at least as tall as the pet at the withers (top of the shoulder). Usually, you'll need to add step-over height to get the flap up high enough. For example: Your dog is 22" at the withers and you buy a pet door with a 15" flap. You'd need a 7" step-over to get the top of the flap up high enough. If you had purchased a 19" flap, then you'd only need a 3" step-over.

Generally, the shorter the step-over the better. As dogs age or become arthritic, it becomes more difficult to manage a higher step-over.

When in installing a pet door in a door or wall, you can choose the step-over dimension. However, for most patio panels the step-over is fixed. The exceptions are the Quick Panel III™ and the Thermo Panel IIIe™  which have a patented user-adjustable step-over.