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Dog Door Security - Please Help

I have a dog door that medium sized adult can squeeze through. Well
the other night a medium sized adult tried to squeeze through it. I
woke up before the person was in the house and turned all the lights
on. By that time they had already jumped the fence. In any event,
this makes me very nervous.

The dog door is in a small laundry room which has a pet immune motion
detector in it. The motion detector did not go off because the person
had not yet stood up. I don't think they had fully entered the room.
In any event, what besides a motion detector can I do to secure this?
Frankly, I am considering boarding it up and living without the dog
door. But other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
 
C

Crash Gordon®

Jan 1, 1970
0
I usually contact the slide...but that's only effective when you put the slide in (keeping
the dog from going in/out).

You could, in addition to the motion detector, also contact the interior laundry room door. But, the bad guy is already in the house on that one too.

If the dog doesn't go in/out at night put the slide in, or have a sturdier door installed.

If the dog is small enough maybe you can construct a man-trap (dog trap in this case), where he'd have to make a turn to get in the house, but a person couldn't.

Install motion detector lighting outside on that side of the house.



|
| I have a dog door that medium sized adult can squeeze through. Well
| the other night a medium sized adult tried to squeeze through it. I
| woke up before the person was in the house and turned all the lights
| on. By that time they had already jumped the fence. In any event,
| this makes me very nervous.
|
| The dog door is in a small laundry room which has a pet immune motion
| detector in it. The motion detector did not go off because the person
| had not yet stood up. I don't think they had fully entered the room.
| In any event, what besides a motion detector can I do to secure this?
| Frankly, I am considering boarding it up and living without the dog
| door. But other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
|
 
J

Jim

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a dog door that medium sized adult can squeeze through. Well
the other night a medium sized adult tried to squeeze through it. I
woke up before the person was in the house and turned all the lights
on. By that time they had already jumped the fence. In any event,
this makes me very nervous.

The dog door is in a small laundry room which has a pet immune motion
detector in it. The motion detector did not go off because the person
had not yet stood up. I don't think they had fully entered the room.
In any event, what besides a motion detector can I do to secure this?
Frankly, I am considering boarding it up and living without the dog
door. But other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Although I've never seen or installed one, I've seen security dog door
devices advertised at Smarthome dot com. The dog wears a collar with an
access control activator and the door wont open unless it senses the
device in the collar. It may have some down sides, but you'd have to
investigate it to find out if it would work in your case.

I guess worst case . ...... you might wake up one night with some guy
standing over your bed ...... wearing a dog collar.
 
R

Robert L. Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a dog door that medium sized adult can squeeze through. Well
the other night a medium sized adult tried to squeeze through it. I
woke up before the person was in the house and turned all the lights
on. By that time they had already jumped the fence. In any event,
this makes me very nervous.

The dog door is in a small laundry room which has a pet immune motion
detector in it. The motion detector did not go off because the person
had not yet stood up. I don't think they had fully entered the room.
In any event, what besides a motion detector can I do to secure this?
Frankly, I am considering boarding it up and living without the dog
door. But other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

It depends on how much trouble you're willing to go through to make it work.
One fellow I know of rigged a solenoid lock, controlled by a prox reader to
keep the door closed. He attached a prox tag to his dog's collar. When the
dog is within a few inches of the door it releases. When the dog is
elsewhere the door remains secured. IIRC this gentleman's problem was not
burglars but other neighborhood pets.

There are other things you can do which cost less but are not as secure.
One method is to rig up a pet resistant motion detector outside the dog
door. When a human enters the area it can trip a sounder, turn on a light
or whatever.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>
 
B

Beachcomber

Jan 1, 1970
0
A dog door of the size you described is just an open way of entering
the house and, in my opinion, an uncessary security risk.

When I bought my house, I had just such a dog door in the garage side
entrance. I went to a local machine shop and ordered two identical
1/4" steel plates with twelve 3/8" holes pre-drilled into the
perimeter. Holes were drilled in the door to match the plates. I
put in steel stove bolts on the outside and nuts and washers on the
inside locked down tight. Then I painted both sides with Rustoleum
(including the threads of the bolts).

Problem solved.

Beachcomber
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Beachcomber said:
A dog door of the size you described is just an open way of entering
the house and, in my opinion, an uncessary security risk.

When I bought my house, I had just such a dog door in the garage side
entrance. I went to a local machine shop and ordered two identical
1/4" steel plates with twelve 3/8" holes pre-drilled into the
perimeter. Holes were drilled in the door to match the plates. I
put in steel stove bolts on the outside and nuts and washers on the
inside locked down tight. Then I painted both sides with Rustoleum
(including the threads of the bolts).

Problem solved.

Beachcomber


I would have bought a new door. "Problem solved"... :))
 
J

JW

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ditto on the new door...that plate and hardware must have been expensive.
 
Crash said:
I usually contact the slide...but that's only effective when you put the slide in (keeping
the dog from going in/out).

You could, in addition to the motion detector, also contact the interior laundry room door. But, the bad guy is already in the house on that one too.

If the dog doesn't go in/out at night put the slide in, or have a sturdier door installed.

If the dog is small enough maybe you can construct a man-trap (dog trap in this case), where he'd have to make a turn to get in the house, but a person couldn't.

Install motion detector lighting outside on that side of the house.

The motion detector lighting is installed, now. I've been looking for
sturdier doors, but can't seem to find any that look very robust. The
auto open/close doors are made of plastic and look easy to break. I
like the idea of contacting the interior door, but then again that
requires not allowing the dog to get out and in that case I might as
well board up the door.
 
A

alarman

Jan 1, 1970
0
Beachcomber said:
A dog door of the size you described is just an open way of entering
the house and, in my opinion, an uncessary security risk.

When I bought my house, I had just such a dog door in the garage side
entrance. I went to a local machine shop and ordered two identical
1/4" steel plates with twelve 3/8" holes pre-drilled into the
perimeter. Holes were drilled in the door to match the plates. I
put in steel stove bolts on the outside and nuts and washers on the
inside locked down tight. Then I painted both sides with Rustoleum
(including the threads of the bolts).

Problem solved.

Beachcomber

Shesh! Why didn't you just replace the door??
js
 
C

Crash Gordon®

Jan 1, 1970
0
We trained our dog to ring a bell when he wants to go out. I wouldn't have a doggie door..besides the security issue...I hate strange animals in my house...like rattlesnakes, cats, scorpions etc. Out here if you have a small pet, they're basically owl or coyote snacks so you don't wanna leave Fluffy on her own out back :)

Some of my clients install the pet door on the side of the garage so the pet can get in and out of the garage but not the house...not great solution since the garage gets real hot...but it works for some.







I usually contact the slide...but that's only effective when you put the slide in (keeping
the dog from going in/out).

You could, in addition to the motion detector, also contact the interior laundry room door. But, the bad guy is already in the house on that one too.

If the dog doesn't go in/out at night put the slide in, or have a sturdier door installed.

If the dog is small enough maybe you can construct a man-trap (dog trap in this case), where he'd have to make a turn to get in the house, but a person couldn't.

Install motion detector lighting outside on that side of the house.

The motion detector lighting is installed, now. I've been looking for
sturdier doors, but can't seem to find any that look very robust. The
auto open/close doors are made of plastic and look easy to break. I
like the idea of contacting the interior door, but then again that
requires not allowing the dog to get out and in that case I might as
well board up the door.
 
R

Robert L. Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ditto on the new door...that plate and
hardware must have been expensive.

Not only that but it must have been fun tightening stove bolts into those
drilled (round) holes. :^)
 
N

no wires showing

Jan 1, 1970
0
Newsgroups: alt.security.alarms
From: "Robert L. Bass" <[email protected]> - Find messages by
this author
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2005 01:25:38 -0400
Local: Sat,Jul 9 2005 1:25 am
Subject: Re: Dog Door Security - Please Help
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There are other things you can do which cost less but are not as secure.
One method is to rig up a pet resistant motion detector outside the dog

door. When a human enters the area it can trip a sounder, turn on a
light
or whatever.<

You are an absolute bozo, Bass. Heat & movement.......yeah let's put a
"pet immune" motion detector outside.Stick to selling tube tops and try
keeping your piecatcher shut when people are looking for alarm advice.
You have no clue, never had a clue, and will never have a clue about
this industry.
You must think there's a little midget in the "pet immune" motion who
says "There's a doggy there's a doggy" or "Hey that's a person I better
trip the switch". 99% of the time your posts are so moronic they
border on amusing but this is just fucking insane. Goofballs like you
endanger the lives of end users when you pretend to know what you're
talking about., and it's downright disgusting.
If I didn't think it would pollute the water I'd tell you to get a job
as a boat anchor because you're just deadweight.
 
Robert said:
It depends on how much trouble you're willing to go through to make it work.
One fellow I know of rigged a solenoid lock, controlled by a prox reader to
keep the door closed. He attached a prox tag to his dog's collar. When the
dog is within a few inches of the door it releases. When the dog is
elsewhere the door remains secured. IIRC this gentleman's problem was not
burglars but other neighborhood pets.

Right, these types of doors are designed to keep unwanted animals, not
people, out.
There are other things you can do which cost less but are not as secure.
One method is to rig up a pet resistant motion detector outside the dog
door. When a human enters the area it can trip a sounder, turn on a light
or whatever.

I'm looking at the Optex VX-402R which can work with a 5816 to tie into
my Ademco panel. At least this will be some added peace of mind.
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
Right, these types of doors are designed to keep unwanted animals, not
people, out.


I'm looking at the Optex VX-402R which can work with a 5816 to tie into
my Ademco panel. At least this will be some added peace of mind.


Check to see what's on the *inside* of the wall you're thinking of mounting
your Optex VX-402R. Is there another hard-wired PIR in the vicinity?? How
about an electrical outlet?? You mentioned that you had no power where you
were thinking of mounting the sensor. Have another "look-see" and determine
whether-or-not you can obtain the coverage you need if you moved it closer
to an adjacent interior device or outlet. Don't limit your "vision" to just
the lower floor either. If there's something on the second floor you can
exploit, go for it.

Personally, I would secure your pet door for the evening (and contact it so
that when you arm your system, you're arming the door). IMO that would be
better than using a motion detector which will pick up all sorts of
extraneous movement (like bushes and trees blowing in the wind, other
animals, or even people). Keep the protection *on the door* and you'll have
far less headaches (and probably sleep better too).

The alternative is to simply contact the pet door using your 5816 and have
it beep, chime, or turn on the lights (instead of the motion detector). I
guarantee that you'll opt to secure the door after a few "incidents" and you
won't be out the price of the Optex unit if you decide to "scrap" that idea.
 
J

J. Sloud

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have a dog door that medium sized adult can squeeze through. Well
the other night a medium sized adult tried to squeeze through it. I
woke up before the person was in the house and turned all the lights
on. By that time they had already jumped the fence. In any event,
this makes me very nervous.

The dog door is in a small laundry room which has a pet immune motion
detector in it. The motion detector did not go off because the person
had not yet stood up. I don't think they had fully entered the room.
In any event, what besides a motion detector can I do to secure this?
Frankly, I am considering boarding it up and living without the dog
door. But other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Being in the industry, if I had this problem I'd contact the dog door
with a wide gap contact and set it up as an alarm point. I'd attach a
RFID tag to the dog's collar and use a long range reader to shunt the
contact when the dog was approaching the door. Anything other than
the dog would cause an alarm if the dog door was opened.
 
J. Sloud said:
Being in the industry, if I had this problem I'd contact the dog door
with a wide gap contact and set it up as an alarm point. I'd attach a
RFID tag to the dog's collar and use a long range reader to shunt the
contact when the dog was approaching the door. Anything other than
the dog would cause an alarm if the dog door was opened.


OK, can I do this wirelessly to an Ademco 20PS ? If not, I need
another solution.
 
F

Frank Olson

Jan 1, 1970
0
OK, can I do this wirelessly to an Ademco 20PS ? If not, I need
another solution.


Nope. You'll need a stand alone prox reader with contact closures so you
can bypass the door contact. That means you'll have to power the reader
from somewhere. Of course, if the perp shoots the dog (or uses a quieter
method to incapicitate the animal) and decides to put the collar on himself,
you're facing the situation that Jim alluded to... The perp (complete with
dog collar) standing over your bed...
 
J

J. Sloud

Jan 1, 1970
0
Nope. You'll need a stand alone prox reader with contact closures so you
can bypass the door contact. That means you'll have to power the reader
from somewhere. Of course, if the perp shoots the dog (or uses a quieter
method to incapicitate the animal) and decides to put the collar on himself,
you're facing the situation that Jim alluded to... The perp (complete with
dog collar) standing over your bed...

Okay I'll bite. Theoretically, the same RFID chips that are available
to tag pets could be used as a credential to shunt a contact/ open a
door. These tags can be implanted. Ethically, this type of
technology is a nasty slippery slope.
 
Frank said:
Check to see what's on the *inside* of the wall you're thinking of mounting
your Optex VX-402R. Is there another hard-wired PIR in the vicinity?? How
about an electrical outlet?? You mentioned that you had no power where you
were thinking of mounting the sensor. Have another "look-see" and determine
whether-or-not you can obtain the coverage you need if you moved it closer
to an adjacent interior device or outlet. Don't limit your "vision" to just
the lower floor either. If there's something on the second floor you can
exploit, go for it.

Personally, I would secure your pet door for the evening (and contact it so
that when you arm your system, you're arming the door). IMO that would be
better than using a motion detector which will pick up all sorts of
extraneous movement (like bushes and trees blowing in the wind, other
animals, or even people). Keep the protection *on the door* and you'll have
far less headaches (and probably sleep better too).

The alternative is to simply contact the pet door using your 5816 and have
it beep, chime, or turn on the lights (instead of the motion detector). I
guarantee that you'll opt to secure the door after a few "incidents" and you
won't be out the price of the Optex unit if you decide to "scrap" that idea.

I just realized that contacting the door is out anyhow because during
the winter months the wind can really pick up and blow the door flap
open and shut.

I just read the description of the Optex outdoor motion sensor. It
seems like it might have reasonable immunity to trees in the wind. It
emits one beam horizontally and another down toward the ground... A
person of normal height who passes by will break both beams and set it
off, however a dog will only break the lower beam and not set it off.
It seems unlikely that my trees and bushes are going to be breaking
both beams. However I guess if plants low to the ground are swaying
and trees higher up are also swaying, that could do it.

Hmm.
 
R

Robert L. Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Being in the industry, if I had this problem I'd contact the dog door
with a wide gap contact and set it up as an alarm point. I'd attach a
RFID tag to the dog's collar and use a long range reader to shunt the
contact when the dog was approaching the door. Anything other than
the dog would cause an alarm if the dog door was opened.

That's the best suggestion yet, J.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
2291 Pine View Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34231
877-722-8900 Sales & Tech Support
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>
 
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