Kids and Pet Doors: Keeping Young Children Safe

Pet doors are a great way to grant your pet the freedom to come and go as they please, freeing up your responsibility to play ‘doorman’ to them. Sure, pet doors are a super convenient way to allow your pet access to the yard whenever they need to go…but what happens when your kids learn how to use the door too?

Is it a Problem? We’ve heard lots of stories of children using the doggy door. We know that this can be concerning for many parents. Generally, it’s not something to be too worried about. For an adult, it would be a bit like trying to climb through a window at ground level.

However, issues can arise on the off chance that your child slips out without you noticing, or if they try to squeeze through a smaller door, leading to scratched knees and elbows. This is where an a href="https://www.petdoors.com/blogs/dog/best-smart-dog-doors">smart dog door comes in handy.

Electronic & Automatic Pet Doors:

An automatic dog door opens only for your pet’s unique, vet-implanted microchip or an RFID key attached to their collar. This means that the flap will only unlock for your pet—and not your child! However, it’s important to keep in mind that this won’t prevent children from following through directly behind your dog, it just means they won’t be able to push through on their own.

For an economically friendly option, the PetSafe Electronic Smart Door functions similarly with RFID technology (just no microchip scanning). Both the SureFlap Microchip Door and PetSafe Dog Door are designed to keep out raccoons and other wildlife by opening only for your pets. This means no more unwanted guests in your home!

See our full selection of Electronic and Automatic Pet Doors for more options. Keep in mind that smart pet doors are designed to restrict strays and critters from accessing your home, not specifically to block kids from accessing. While locking systems like that in the Dog Mate 215 & 216 Dog Door will help keep children out, it’s important to always keep a close eye, and to consider further safety precautions below.

Further Precautions: An automatic pet door is the best dog door option for a home shared by pets and children, however, it is not a guaranteed safety measure. While a microchip or RFID sensor should only let your dog pass through the door, there’s a chance that an escape-artist child may slip through right behind them.

This is particularly true for large automatic dog doors like the High Tech Power Pet, which opens upwards when it scans your dog’s RFID tag. While this door will keep a child from pushing through on their own, the larger flap opening and the way it opens may allow a little more time/ space for them to sneak through behind the dog.

In addition to having an electronic dog door, always ensure that pools, trampolines and other safety hazards are safely fenced off to keep kids out.

Dog door safety is a top priority when deciding on installing a pet door, and a microchip or RFID activated door can be a great solution for preventing kids from pushing through the flap to get outside!

If you have a small dog, check out our selection of small dog doors. Have some more questions concerning safety and electronic door options? Give us a call at 1-800-826-2871 or email us at customerservice@petdoors.com.