I needed a door quickly that would only allow only me to go out and not the cats. This was the only electronic door in stock at the local PetSmart stores.
- This product barely works as an electronic Smart Door; It should be withdrawn from the market. Spend another $100 to get a different brand that really works.
- The sensitivity range and time are not consistent, it can be 2 feet at 1 second or less than 1 foot and 6 seconds! It took me about a week to figure out that I need to hold my head really close to the door and to wait long enough for the electronic signal to work. My owner is now broke from all the treats he had to buy to help me learn this trick!
- Petsmart should stock a better line of electronic doors in stores so that other dogs and their owners don't get so frustrated.

+1point

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Review 2 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Unreliable and expensive

February 19, 2013

by Darren75

fromVirginia

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

I had NO use for the primary function of this pricey door: as a means of offering "smart" passage for one animal and not another. What dog is going to wait ten seconds while the thing decides to open? Mine tried it, got discouraged at its erratic nature, and then gave up.

So, I just left it open. Then, the thing malfunctions and stays in the locked position. So now this thing is in my door and I have to open and close my door manually to let me dog out. I could have slapped in a mud-flap and had better results.

Caveat emptor!

+3points

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Review 3 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

5 / 5 22 reviews

LOVE IT!!

January 27, 2013

by mbbmfoster

fromLoveland, CO

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?4

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

We live out in the country and have cats. We have lost 2 to coyote's/fox because they learned how to get out of the normal dog door. We searched "high and low" because we have big dogs and had a hard time finding a locking dog door big enough. We love this door and have owned it for 4 years now with out any problems. The dogs are free to go in and out as they please and we haven't lost any more cats! Also, we foster for our local humane society, and it has been easy to train other dogs how to use this quickly.

+5points

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Review 4 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

5 / 5 22 reviews

Great Door - Must Install Correctly

September 9, 2012

by PetOwner4

fromMaryland

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?4

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

I read all of these reviews and most people had issues. Had I not already purchased the door, I would have passed on it based on the reviews. However, from my research, the symptoms of the doors jamming and not closing properly appear to be improper installation issues (can't say for sure, but that is what my research shows up).

I have an invisible fence (not the self-installed version, but from the Invisible Fence company). I use their dog collar devices for the fence and the dog door. I also had them professionally install the dog door (PetSafe door from PetSmart). I have had no problems with the door jamming. I have two 55 pound dogs and a 50 pound dog that use it all the time with no issues. One dog was skittish, but eventually got used to the sounds. Another nine month old dog is deaf and mostly blind (rescue dog) and quickly got used to the door. She paws at it until it opens (there is a slight delay for it to open), then goes through with no problem.

The door did click open with no dogs at the door - that is because when they passed by the door on the floor above it, it triggered the door to open. There is a dial that allows for a variable distance to activate the door. Dialing it down fixes the issue.

I have had the door for over a year now with no issues. I replace the batteries once every three months.

Don't let the bad reviews scare you off - with proper installation, it should not jam or break. I can't speak for the transmitters that come with it - as I said, I use the Invisible Fence transmitters, which are fully compatible. Of all the dog doors I have used, this is one of the best - it keeps the weather out better than a flap door and the electronics work better than another company's did.

+5points

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Review 5 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

horrible product

July 12, 2012

by bronco

fromphx

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?3

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Not only does the door jam constantly but it is loud as it flaps back and forth when the dog goes in and out. My girlfriend bought it before I was with her because she has a cat and a dog and she didn't want the cat going outside. The cat still goes outside. It does not deter him at all. We now have two dogs and the cat. The puppy is scared of it because of the noise but I'm sure will learn to use it. It has jammed twice and seems to now be stuck in the closed (locked) position permanently. I am currently trying to solve the problem with no luck

-1point

0of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 6 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

5 / 5 22 reviews

I LOVE IT

April 8, 2012

by BL41

fromMEXIA TEXAS

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

I'VE HAD MY DOOR FOR ABOUT 5 YEARS. IT HAS WITHSTOOD THESE YEARS WITH NO PROBLEMS. IT HAS REQUIRED 2 BATTERY CHANGES DURING THIS TIME. I HAVE A POM-A-POO, WHICH THIS DOOR WAS PURCHASED FOR AND A TINY TOY POODLE FOR 1 YEAR +. THEY STREAK THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE LIGHTENING. FOR THE FIRST FEW YEARS I DID NOT NEED THE "KEY" BUT WE LIVE IN THE COUNTRY AND THE WILD CATS HAVE FOUND "THE DOOR" NOW I AM BACK TO PURCHASE A "KEY" FOR THE LITTLE POODLE. I AM COMPLETELY SATISFIED WITH THIS PRODUCT. SO MUCH SO THAT WHEN WE RE-MODELED WE INSTALLED IT IN OUR NEW STEEL DOOR.

+4points

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Review 7 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Poor quality. Plastic parts break easy

January 29, 2012

by Char63

fromMechanicsburg pa

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

the flap itself has a rod across the top that fits into plastic teeth on either side so that it can swing. I have replaced the door twice, the second is now broke. The dogs hit the door hard to go thru when they want to go out and bark at something, they break all the little plastic teeth off and now I just have a giant hole and its 35 degrees outside during the day.
Problem is, the size of the hole required forces you to replace it with the same dog door.

We did not use the electronic part for very long, the part that goes on the dogs collar fell apart so many times, trying to find the pieces and the battery in the back yard got old. so we have to manually lock it. Sometimes when it's locked, the dogs can still hit it hard and force thru it. then they can't get back in because the door is stuck "out". there should also be a manual piece to slide over it on the inside like the flap doors have so they can't do that.

+7points

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Review 8 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

2 / 5 22 reviews

Live and learn

June 15, 2011

by DontDoIt

fromMyrtle Beach, SC

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?1

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

Ease of Assembly

4 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

2 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

3 / 5 22 reviews

Very easy to install and works great in the "unlocked" mode.
Motor and gears are very slow and make alot of noise. My dog will not go near it when its in "automatic" mode. Worked with him for several hours over a four day period trying to get him through it, but the inconsistent unlocking range and loud noise made it impossible. I should have saved myself the extra money, and bought a standard pet door. Perhaps I can call Cesar Millan.

Pros: easy to assemble

+6points

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Review 9 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

5 / 5 22 reviews

Makes life so much easier

June 9, 2011

by Shmegsberry

fromSpokane, WA

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?3

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Ease of Assembly

4 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

5 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

5 / 5 22 reviews

I know a lot of people have had problems with this door, but we bought ours about 6 months ago and it has worked great. We got a newer model (in the new box) and we had a professional install it in out metal door. I think installation is the important thing. It has to be perfectly level to work properly. It isn't super sensitive, I had to turn the sensitivity dial up all the way, but it works perfectly. Training my dog to use it was a breeze. I couldn't be happier. Its great also because we have cats, so my dog can go in and out during the day but my cats can't :)

Pros: sturdy

Cons: difficult to assemble

+4points

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Review 10 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

4 / 5 22 reviews

Excellent customer service

May 4, 2010

by Stephenie

fromMontrose, CO

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

Ease of Assembly

3 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

5 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

5 / 5 22 reviews

I got this dog door for our two large dogs and while installing it the actual door came out of the gear and the gear fell out causing the door not to work properly. Customer service for petsafe is quick to answer the phone, very friendly and understanding, overnighted me a new door (it was snowing and I had a gaping hole in my current home door) and sent me a return shipping label for the old door without charging me for two doors at once. I have to emphasize how nice and friendly they were while being quick and efficient for me. I would definately buy from them again.
I only gave the ease of assembly a 3 star because it took us over 2 hours to put in the dog door but only because we didn't quite cut the hole properly, it wasn't their fault, it was ours, but still it became very frustrating. My advice would be to follow the directions to the T and make sure your cuts are correct, which isn't easy even with a jigsaw.

Pros: sturdy contruction, peace of mind that people or critters cant get in, excellent customer service from petsafe, takes batteries not plugged in to anything

Cons: batteries go dead

+2points

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Review 11 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Poor decision on my part

December 29, 2009

by Martist

fromPhiladelphia

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?1

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Ease of Assembly

4 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

2 / 5 22 reviews

Customer support is non-existant: Wrote to them about my problems and have not heard back.

Transmitter and receiver FLAKEY at best.

Very drafty (lets in the cold air).

The noise made when the door unlocks actually scares our dog.

Ruined our door: We'll have to buy and install a new door if we want to install another dog door.

Pros: none

Cons: horrible product

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 12 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Save your hard earned cash

December 10, 2009

by MrSorryIBought

frombaltimore

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Ease of Assembly

3 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

1 / 5 22 reviews

I just finished installing the door and programming the max amount of pass key's to find out the door will only unlock if the pass key is within 3 inches of the door. This was an expensive experiment as the door and all the keys put me back about $375. DO NOT BUY THIS DOOR IF YOU LIKE YOUR MONEY!!!

Cons: over priced and under performed

+1point

2of 3voted this as helpful.

Review 13 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

3 / 5 22 reviews

Don't buy if any metal in close proximity.

September 8, 2009

by DogDad

fromTulsa, OK

Ease of Assembly

5 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

3 / 5 22 reviews

I bought a large and a small PetSafe electronic door. I then removed my patio door and had a carpenter custom install these two doors on either side of a metal storm door. I purchased extra keys for my dogs. Now it is all put together, but the keys won't unlock the doors. I called Petsafe and they tell me that any large metal object within about 6 feet will seriously decrease the range of the radio tags. My dogs approach the doors, but the door only unlocks about 1 out of 10 tries. Now I am out about $1500 total for the doors, tags, and remodeled back door. Don't make this mistake.

+2points

2of 2voted this as helpful.

Review 14 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

2 / 5 22 reviews

Smart Dog Door....Not so smart

August 12, 2009

by Jlan

fromMIssion Viejo, CA

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

Ease of Assembly

1 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

1 / 5 22 reviews

I was really excited to get this product for my dog - but the door was really unreliable. I would not recommend this product!

+1point

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Review 15 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

4 / 5 22 reviews

Smart Door

July 16, 2009

by EnglishLab

fromPrescott, AZ

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?1

How often do you shop at PetSmart?A few times a year

Ease of Assembly

3 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

5 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

5 / 5 22 reviews

We built a new home and had the contractor set it into an exterior wall. It has worked well for our 130 lb English Chocolate Lab. He has no issues with its advertised 100 lb listed capacity. Still have original batteries installed for 2 1/2 months now. The flap opens and closes tightly. Our dog learned to wait for the door to click before trying to use it.
Love it so far.

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 16 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

4 / 5 22 reviews

So thankful we bought this!

April 9, 2009

by macys2008

fromTexas

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

Ease of Assembly

4 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

4 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

5 / 5 22 reviews

We bought this for our two 60 lbs dogs. During the first week, the dogs ate off one of the collar sensors, so we quit using the automatic setting. However, it has worked great that way. We leave them in their crates during the day, and the dog door on "locked," and when we get home and all night, we keep the setting on "unlocked" so that they can go in/out without us opening the door for them. I can't testify as how the automatic setting works, because we don't use it, but the on/off acess works great! It keeps most all of the cold/hot air outside (even when windy or raining), and the dogs LOVE it because they don't have to wait on someone to let them out all evening/night!

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 17 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

VERY DISAPPOINTING

February 19, 2009

by JAKEANDELLIE

fromMANSFIELD, OH

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?2

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Weekly

For 2 years we had the traditional flap door which worked fine until on morning a raccoon came in. Our lab is almost 13 so he needs to go out frequently, we can not leave the door shut at night. After a week of getting up twice a night to let the dog out, we found this door and we were very excited, we thought this was the perfect solution (wish I would have went online and read reviews before I purchased in the store). The door was very unreliable. It would lock and unlock without reason. Also there is a limited amount of time the dog has to enter the door when he comes into range. If he does not go through, then the door locks. The dog would have to leave the range for a period of time before the door would unlock. This just confused our dog and we could not trust it. We couldn’t even use it one day. The worst part is we bought a new screen door and custom cut the hole to fit this door. We had to take the batteries out to try to use as a traditional flap, but the wind blows it open and cold air rushes in. Now we have a very expensive piece of junk and still get up twice a night. We are now looking for a flap that will fit this hole and just pray the raccoon does not come back

+1point

1of 1voted this as helpful.

Review 18 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

No GOOD door

February 2, 2009

by Hendrik

fromEureka, CA

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?3

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Ease of Assembly

3 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

1 / 5 22 reviews

I have only had this door in for about 6 months now and gone through 3 sets of Duracell batteries. This door sometimes does not close properly - in its tracks and then it gets stuck - resulting in the dog not being able to come in or go out! It also opens and closes on its own, NON-STOP. I think this is the biggest piece of "ureliable junk" on the market!!! This is not a door you can install and leave your home thinking your pet will be OK. You will leave and be worried ALL the time - and the chances of it malfunctioning while you are away, is about 90%.

Cons: unreliable!!!

+3points

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Review 19 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Easy to Install HORRIBLE PRODUCT

December 31, 2008

by ANC1013

fromPhoenix, Arizona

What is your gender?F

How many pets do you have?4

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Ease of Assembly

2 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

1 / 5 22 reviews

I purchased this door for my 2 dogs with the intentions of safety and keeping my 2 adventerous kitties inside!! I installed it into an exsisting wood door with help so install was fairly easy. After programming my 2 keys the unit worked well for about 5 days. I have already gone through 2 doors and have to once again remove the door and return it. It seems the motor just shuts down and i cant get it to respond or come out of error mode. Problem with this door is the size of the cutout due to the motor/door itself. I now have to go return this door (i will not exchange for the 3rd time in a month) and go purchase a brand new door AND doggie door. This has been a nightmare and would not purchase ever again.

Pros: apperance

Cons: tempermental, breaks constantly, huge hole

+3points

3of 3voted this as helpful.

Review 20 for PetSafe Electronic Door Mount Smart Dog Door

Overall rating

1 / 5 22 reviews

Strong, but has problems

December 7, 2008

by Pony

fromDFW Metroplex , TX

What is your gender?M

How many pets do you have?5 or more

How often do you shop at PetSmart?Monthly

Ease of Assembly

1 / 5 22 reviews

Performance

1 / 5 22 reviews

Quality

3 / 5 22 reviews

We have 4 large dogs, so this product seemed a great way to give them independence, and save the trips to the door to let them out.
Although this product is electronic, we did not buy it for this reason. It was the only large pet door that had a rigid plastic door, we had tried the flexible plastic ones before and they frequently stick open.

Installation is fairly demanding. The hole needs to be much larger than the opening in the pet door - the top portion of the frame contains the electronics, and this is housed inside the newly cut hole in your door. The manufacturer provides a paper template, but it is going to take two of you to position the template and tape it in place (unless your happy with a slanted pet door). Installation took about 1 hour, using a jigsaw and a philips screwdriver.

As I stated earlier we did not buy this for its electronic opening feature (besides each additional pet tag costs around $30). The door can be set to "locked", "unlocked" or "automatic", the latter meaning it unlocks when one of your pets is wearing a tag and approaches the door. We set the door to unlocked. Sadly in unlocked mode the door has a 2 or 3 mm gap all the way around, which lets in the outside air. The door also has a tendency to stick when it swings closed, leaving a 2 inch gap! In automatic mode the door locking mechanism then jams. I'm going to take my dremmel and remove a few mm's from the area where the door sticks - but you shouldn't have to do this with a $200 pet door.

The door is made of durable plastic and looks like it would last - sadly poor quality control means it sticks.

+2points

2of 2voted this as helpful.

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