Dog Training Gates Keep Your Dogs Confined

The purpose of dog training gates are to keep your dog in a confined area. It may be to keep then out of the rest of your house, or it may be that you have small children and you want to keep your dog away from your children when you aren’t supervising them. It also may be that you have valuables and fine furniture that you don't want your dog to go on or get in to, particularly if you are out. Dog training gates are important dog training tools.

Freestanding Dog Training Gates

It is important that when you have picked the room that you want your dog to be confined to with the dog training gates, that you dog proof that particular room. You want to make sure that you have hidden electrical wires, phone chords and TV and internet cables and taken any valuables up to a height that the dog cannot reach. Also if you have things on a coffee table, you need to remove them. One of my Golden’s had a great big bushy tail and was able to clear a coffee table in one fell swoop. Also, you want to make sure that if your dog is a chewer, you don't have any wood furniture with legs. You will want to make sure that your dog has some toys to occupy him while he is confined to this space. Putting his bed in this room is also a good idea. These are all precautions to keep you and your dog happy, although some good dog training about what is ok and what not to touch is in order here.

Points To Keep In Mind When Considering Dog Training Gates

There a few things to keep in mind when you are considering dog training gates. They are:

• the size that you need
• special requirements that you may have
• the purpose of the gate

Is your dog gate going into a normal doorway, or is it going into a hall, or wide opening? Perhaps the opening is unusual in shape. Maybe you have a large dog and a small child. You may want to be able to pass through the gate easily as it is a busy passageway. Or maybe your dog is a chewer, so you need a gate that is “chew proof”. What if you need dog gates that can be put out of site easily? Or maybe you need dog gates that are strong enough and tall enough for a large dog. What do the various types of dogs gates cost? So many things to consider when you are considering purchasing a dog training gate for your home.

Main Types of Dog Training Gates

There are 3 main types of dog training gates:

• hardware mounted gates
• pressure mounted gates
• free standing gates

Within the hardware mounted category of dog gates are the retractable gate and the swing gate. These kind of dog training gates need to be installed into your door frame with screws. They are easy to install, durable and will keep your dog confined to the room you choose. These dog gates are suitable for hallways, doorways and the top and bottom of stairs. Within the hardware mounted gate category there are retractable gates and swing gates.

Retractable gates are attached with screws to the one side of your opening, a doorway, a hall or a staircase, and then there is a latch on the other side of the opening where it can be locked.

This gate swings and can be retracted into its closed position so that it can be not so visible if you are not actually using the gate to keep your dog in a room. Usually these gates are 34 inches high and come in either 52 or 72 inch widths.

The swing gate works by expanding like an accordion from the size of 24 inches all the way to 60 inches. These gates are usually about 32 inches in height and they are able to swing in both directions. These gates are mounted and when they are not in use, they collapse down to 24 inches in size.

Then there is the pressure mounted gates. These gates are installed without using any tools, so they don’t damage walls. By using pressure on the gate to keep it in its place, the gate is squeezed into place inside the doorway and then is locked into place. If your dog is smart enough to be able to figure out how to open the lock, then you may need to invest in a safety lock. This gate can be as tall as 42 inches, so is great for a large dog, or a dog that is a jumper. They are suitable for hallways that have solid sides, doorways and the bottom of stairs. These gates can be made of wood, metal or plastic.

Freestanding gates are portable gates that have are adjustable in width, so are suitable for a number of openings. Within the freestanding gate category, there are three varieties of gates. They are the straight freestanding gate, the zigzag freestanding gate, and the multi-configuration gate. The straight freestanding gates can be found in a variety of widths and heights to suit many different openings and size of dog. The zigzag freestanding gate is suitable for a large opening or can also be used as a room divider. There are also some zigzag gates also have an opening in the middle of the gate so that you can walk through the gate. The multi-configuration gates are quite large and are suitable for making a safety barrier around a fireplace, as well closing off a large space. Some people sometimes use this gate as a complete enclosed pen for their dog.

The free standing gates are the least expensive. Some of them are made of plastic and some are made of wood. Some are retractable and some slide. They are opened to the width of the opening and then are pressured into the door frame to close up the area so that the dog cannot get out of the space that they are in. These gates are good for small to medium size dogs, not for large dogs, as their body weight can easily push the gate down. The ones that are freestanding are not to be used at the top of stairs as they could give way. It depends on the type of dog that you have and the dog training that you have given them. My Golden's respected boundaries, so if a gate was put up they stayed behind it. I was able to use the freestanding gates easily even though my dogs were considered large dogs. I never had a stair case that I was gating off, so that didn't come into the picture.

Factors To Consider When Deciding On Your Dog Training Gates

When deciding on what type of dog gate that you need for your home, there are a variety of factors that you need to take into consideration. Some of these include:

• what type of dog you have?
• how active is your dog?
• what size is your dog?
• is your dog a jumper?
• how big is your house?
• do you have stairs?
• how many rooms need a gate?
• how big an area do you need gated off?
• how much do you want to spend?
• do you want something that matches your decor or something that is practical?

Dog Training Gates Need To Be The Right Size

You need to measure the width of the opening to make sure that you get the right size for the opening that you have. Then you need to decide how high you need the dog gate to be. Gates usually range from 29” to 32”, but can be as high as 42” for the large dog. For smaller dogs there are gates as low as 20” that you can actually step over. Next you need to decide on the type of gate that you want such as hardware mounted pressure mounted or freestanding. You then need to decide what material you want your gate to be made out of, such as wood, metal, wrought iron or plastic. Finally you need to determine what price that you want to pay for your gate as the can range in price from $20 to up to $400 or more, depending on what the gate is made out of and how big it is.

As you can see there are so many things to take into consideration when you are shopping for dog gates for your home. The purpose of this site is to review a variety of different dog gates and recommend the best dog training gates for you as determined by your circumstances.