Life gets a lot more interesting when you use a cattle prod.

Both my roommate and my girlfriend each have a dog, so one of the top projects on my list these days was to get a fence built in the back yard to make it easier to let the dogs play outside. Most of my backyard is uneven terrain, so putting in a fence around most of it would be very labor and time intensive. I settled on a 20' x 30' of fairly even area directly behind the house that gives them plenty of room as well as being out of view.

Though it took more time than I thought when working on it a bit at a time, I finally finished this afternoon. When I started conceiving the project, I knew I wanted to put in some kind of doggie door to enable the dogs to go in and out whenever they need so we wouldn't have to always let them out. The problem was that my screened back porch is about 4-5 feet off of the ground whereas my old home with the egress door for my old dog Kinda was pretty much ground level. After playing with some ideas, I finally decided to build on an extra platform with a ramp that looks like a cattle chute to the fenced area. Both Kristen and my roommate helped when I need someone to steady something, hold something in place, or bring out a cool lemonade!

Before putting in the doggie door. I had to take out the screen, add in a support bar, and then do the installation. This picture was taken before I built the platform and ramp.

Pictures of the finished product! With this the dogs, once they learn how to use the door, can go in and out as they please!

Inside shot with the completed door.