I have a dog. He’s not terribly wise – English Cocker Spaniels aren’t, in general – and he’s both an indoor and an outdoor dog. So after replacing the screen door from my kitchen to the back garden for the umpteenth time, I decided to buy a pet door. I should have done it long before the cost of replacing my back door overtook the cost of a dog door, but you know what they say about pets and their owners being alike. So off I popped to several pet shops in my area, and got quite confused, to be perfectly honest. Buying a door for my dog to tear in and out of was proving to be more difficult than I had imagined (and I was sick of worrying what to do with him while I was away – this way he could still have access to the house when I wasn’t there). I interrogated a friend of mine who had a cat flap for her moggy, but my friend admitted that her cat still insisted on meowing at the back door to be let in (cats have servants, dogs have masters). So that wasn’t very helpful. Then I discovered the internet and my search suddenly became fruitful. I hunted for one that was the size I wanted for my screen door, and made sure it was easy to install. It arrived quickly, and I actually managed to install it with a minimum of fuss. That, however, was the end of the fuss-less operation.

My dog, bless his cotton socks, had to be shown how to use the dog flap. This involved me attempting to crawl in and out of it, in full view of the neighbours out the back. I took pooch to said friend’s house to let him examine the cat door there, but that ended badly as Deefah (‘D’ for dog – Deefah) had not seen a cat before, much less a cat flap. But I am nothing if not resourceful and I am pleased to say that now Deefah happily uses his doggy door with aplomb. I can leave for work or go to bed and not worry about how Deefah will get in and out of the house. All it took was his favourite treat placed on the other side of the door and he eventually realised the benefits of his own little dog flap. And I don’t have to replace another screen door!