Pets: Ways to Set In-Home Boundaries Without the Gates

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Upon moving into a new home, it’s important to keep your pets out of certain rooms as they get used to their new space. While you could use baby gates for that purpose, they are often cumbersome to have put up all over the house. Instead, use any or all of these three methods to get the job done.

Use High-Tech Barriers

High-tech indoor barriers use a tone as a reminder to keep pets out of different rooms or from going upstairs or downstairs. You just have to position them along the threshold between the rooms or against the bottom or top riser on your staircase.

Then, you put the collar on your pet and the sensors automatically warn them when they are too close. Before long, your pets will avoid those areas on their own, allowing you to get rid of the system altogether.

Train Them to Stay Out

If you prefer to work one-on-one with your pets instead, follow these boundary training steps:

1. Put your pet on a short leash and walk them toward your boundary of choice.
2. Stop just short of the room and reward your pet when they halt in place.
3. Move back to the starting point and repeat this process until your pet stops before you do.
4. Add a cue word that lets them know that the room is off limits, like ‘Out.’
5. Continue to repeat the training, but this time without the leash on your pet.
6. On the next attempt, walk one step past the boundary and reward your pet for stopping short.
7. Repeat the training while moving further into the room before returning to reward your pet.

Once you have trained your pets to stay out of one room, you can use the cue to let them know that others are off limits. If they do not understand, just move through the training at the threshold of the new room. Eventually, they will use their knowledge gained during training and stay out when told.

Convert to Dutch Doors

If you need a quick solution that will benefit you for the long-term, you can convert ordinary doors in your house to Dutch doors. This style of door is cut into top and bottom halves, so you can close each section separately.

Upon just closing the bottom half, the door functions as a baby gate would but is so much easier to use. As an added benefit, these doors are great for keeping young kids out of certain areas as well.

Dutch doors are available in many different styles for interior and exterior installations. They are best installed by a skilled contractor, but you can likely swing the project if you are reasonably handy.

Depending on the needs of your pets, you can use any combination of these solutions to control their movement through your home. Your efforts will pay off in the long run as they learn to stay out of certain areas, like the kitchen and bedrooms.