Anti-puppy door screen?

August 10, 2007 12:36 AM

Our dog is demolishing the wooden door of our rental with its scratching. We will have to fix it but not before we work out how to prevent it happening in future. How can we protect it cheaply and effectively?

Our dog (English Pointer) is at a difficult age (9 months) and is not responding to training not to scratch at the back door. He has created several deep scratch marks in it. We don't want to tie him up. How can we protect the door from future attack? Is there some sort of temporary screen we can build which doesn't impede the opening and closing of the door?

posted by vizsla to home & garden (13 comments total)

Aluminum sheeting applied to the door should do it. It doesn't have to be too thick.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 12:55 AM on August 10, 2007

What SCDB said. They actually make sheets of metal expressly for attaching to the bottom of a door. A google search for "Kick Plate" yields far too many options. Home Depot/Lowes/Other home improvement stores will also have a ton of these.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:19 AM on August 10, 2007

wrong link, sorry.

Kick Plate.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 1:22 AM on August 10, 2007

How do I attach it to the wooden door though? Remember it's a rental place. I'm not allowed to make holes in the door.
posted by vizsla at 2:08 AM on August 10, 2007

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew's "Kick Plate" URL

@ vizsla

If you cannot make holes in the door, do you have enough door jam exposed to put up a child's gate?



@ The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

Replace your quotes (") with %22

The address of http://www.google.com/search?complete=1&hl=en&q="Kick+Plate"&btnG=Google+Search

needs to be modified to
http://www.google.com/search?complete=1&hl=en&q=%22Kick+Plate%22&btnG=Google+Search

You are telling the ( href="http:// ) that you are done declaring the URL when it hits the quote in the address.

I too have made this mistake. If you make a request here they can fix it for you.
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 2:15 AM on August 10, 2007

Sorry to post again, but I had some additional thoughts on the matter.

Does your dog bark at all? Can you get him to bark?

Leave the scratched up door there for a while, while you train him. Every time he starts scratching on the door, tell him "No!" At the same time, try to get him to "Speak!" When he barks, let him in. Same for going out. Even if you are the one requesting that he goes out, you want him to sit by the door and "Speak!" before letting him go outside. This way, he knows that if you want to go through that door, he needs to be verbal about it.

If you are in a situation where he barks and does not appear to want to go out or come in, you still need to get up and open the door for him. This was he knows, if I bark, the door will open. It will take a little bit of time, but I don't see why it should take longer than a couple weeks if you consistently enforce it.

Good luck!
posted by B(oYo)BIES at 2:28 AM on August 10, 2007

This is how.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:44 AM on August 10, 2007

(oh, and thanks b(oYo)bies)
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:45 AM on August 10, 2007

Have you had him out of the house for training at obediance school? I ask this because if he doesn't respect you he's not going to respond to any of your attempts. I'm hoping that he did obediance school when you got him, and maybe just needs a refresher now. If he hasn't gone, please take him.

Adding aluminum to the part of the door that he's scratching now may cause him to scratch higher on the door, or to start on the jamb, as the aluminum doesn't give much for the claws to catch on, and is unsatisfying to scratch.
posted by bilabial at 5:38 AM on August 10, 2007

I would second the aluminum sheeting, especially if the current damage is so bad that you're going to have to replace the door. (i.e. attach the sheeting to the damaged door however you feel like it, replacing the entire door before you move)

bilabial makes a valid point, though, and attacking the root of the problem (the dog's scratching) might be a better solution.

Another option might be dog boots.
posted by boreddusty at 6:04 AM on August 10, 2007

My rabbit was chewing at molding around a door and I fixed the problem by rubbing some tabasco sauce on the spot she was chewing. A small amount rubbed in shouldn't leave any stain (or you could use some other possible deterrent, such as white vinegar).
posted by bluefrog at 6:07 AM on August 10, 2007

Both my dogs occasionally scratch at the door; they're used to a dog door and, frankly, not having them scratch is low in my training priorities - we work harder on coming when called, barking less and please, god, stop eating the furniture. So what I did was replace my landlord's back door with a $17 unfinished wood screen door from Lowes. In a very cheapass Martha Stewart way, I created a dog door in this by simply cutting one of the bottom screen panels out on the theory that the dogs would see the hole but the bugs would not (this has actually sort of worked, go figure.) When it gets cold, though, the landlord's door will have to return and my plan for that is carpet. I'm going to go get some carpet remnants and staple them to the door. Staple holes in wood are small and easily disguised: definitely smaller and more easily disguised than dog claw marks. Besides, then they can still scratch.
posted by mygothlaundry at 10:28 AM on August 10, 2007

A clear plastic panel affixed with 3M Command removable adhesive (or small, discrete screws) can look quite nice. If you're feeling mean, you can trim a fluorescent light diffuser panel to size and mount it similarly, with the pointy bits facing outward - will tend to discourage the dog - the mean part is if the dog is driven to scratch anyway.
posted by cairnish at 2:23 PM on August 17, 2007