Measure Your Pet For Correct Size Choice

We offer a wide variety of standard sizes and types of pet doors to fit almost any pet or application.  We even offer custom made doors of almost any size.  For more information on custom sizing pricing and ordering, please click here to send a request, or call us at 205-982-5196 during our normal business hours. We’ll be happy to help you determine the best pet door option for your needs.  We are pleased to be able to provide you with the following information to make choosing the correct pet door easy.

Measure Twice, Cut Once!
Measure Twice, Cut Once!

How to Measure For Your Pet Door

[See Fig. 2 at bottom of page]  If you have limited space for your pet door, you need to take into consideration both the rough opening size (the hole cut into your door, wall, etc. represented in green below) and the tip to tip size (the outermost frame measurement represented in beige below). Measure your available area and see which standard size best fits your situation, keeping in mind the size of your animal (see section below about how to measure your pet). If necessary, we can supply a custom size door made to fit your available area while providing the largest possible passage opening for your pet.

There are three measurements to take into consideration when choosing the correct size door for your pet:

  

1)      The Width of the passage opening

2)      The Height of the opening

3)      The Rise (the lip at the bottom of the door that the pet must step over to use the door).

 

Use the following guidelines to ensure a proper fit for your pet.

 

WIDTH:                  This is the easy one. Simply measure your pet at the widest point and add an inch or two for safety. If your pet is long haired, don’t forget that this may make them appear wider than they really are. Alternately, you can open a door just wide enough for your pet to pass through and measure the width of the opening, again adding an inch or two for safety.

 

HEIGHT:                 The pet door flaps should be at least an inch or two above the top of your pet’s back not the head. To get this length, measure your pet from the withers (top of the shoulders) to the floor. Remember that your door won’t be placed completely at floor level.

 

RISE:                      This measurement is only applicable for panel models which come with the rise built in. Door, wall, screen, and window models can be mounted at whatever height is comfortable for your pet. If you have a short-legged dog or an older dog that can’t lift his feet very high, or if the door is installed with a step on either side, consider ordering a “no rise” door. Our standard rise is 5” or 10”.

 

Alternate method:          You can also make a sample door opening out of a large piece of cardboard based on the above size chart. Place it in a door opening and experiment with height placement. Order the size most comfortable for your pet.

Fig. 2 - Click to See Larger View
Fig. 2 - Click to See Larger View

All brand names are the registered trademarks of their respective owners.  Plexidor® is a registered trademark of Plexidor, Inc. Petsafe®, SmartDoor®, MicroLite™, and Computer Collar® are registered trademarks of Radio Systems Corporation.  Patio Pacific®, Thermosash™, and Endura Flap™ are registered trademarks of Patio Pacific, Inc. Pet Stop®, Comfort Contacts™, Gentle Steps™, UltraElite®, UltraMax®, UltraTuff®, EcoLite®, Link® and Universal Remote Trainer® are registered trademarks of Perimeter Technologies, Inc. Pet Fence Pros®, AlabamaDogDoors.com™, AlabamaPetDoors.com™, Pet Fence Experts™, and Pet Door Experts™ are registered trademarks of McDonald Brothers, Inc.