i spent a good portion of today attempting to install a dog door so the dogs can come and go as they please when we’re gone. with reckless abandon, i used a jig saw to cut a rectangle out of our back door and put the dog door together. at this point, i realize that i’ve cut the rectangle out such that it spans two ‘decorative’ recessed areas on the door and the dog door panels can’t lay flush and hence are efficiently letting in the cold air and letting out the warm air. great.

and to add insult to injury the dogs just stare at the dog door, perplexed as to why i’m pointing at it and imploring them to “go on! go on! go!” i decide to stand on the other side and coax them through with a bit cheese to no avail. so i change tactics and let them outside and go around front and start ringing the doorbell. mauja the malamute can’t resist seeing who’s come to visit and jumps through the door and comes racing the to the front of the house. the frame of the dog door is stuck around his midsection, which brings me to the realization that the dogs don’t want to jump though the door because it’s too small. d’oh!

so kris goes back to the pet supply store and gets a bigger [ and obscenely expensive ] dog door and i go through another round of cutting creating a larger and draftier opening in the back door.

predictably, even though the opening is now about the size of texas and the dogs can come through if enticed with a big enough piece of cheese, they are still refusing to jump through without the bribe.