Ok so I came to this pet sit and found something I’d never seen before which was a game changer for me. I’ve pet sat two cats, a mature cat and a kitten that was too young to be ‘fixed’ so I could only allow the big cat access to the outside.. no cat flap had been fitted.. it made me realize how much yoyoing I did each day to police the exit! Once the kitten got out and I shut the door firmly.. it was winter and the kitten decided to come straight back in when I reopened the door seconds later!
So this house has no cats or cat flap,
They have a DOG FLAP !
Genius! So the doors can be locked and they are in and out as needed at night too I don’t need to get up either..
This makes my life so much easier!
I’m definitely getting one if I get a dog again.. it will have to be smaller than my go to Great Dane size for dogs of my choice!
Another game changer was a double lead for taking these two dogs out simultaneously. The energetic pup is slowed down by the older dog in tow. It makes for easier control when we pass another dog. The puppy is very protective of the older dog and so having the two together I have a hand free if I need it!
I have sat several places with dog flaps. One place had 2 dogs and 2 cats so the cats used it. Total game changer. I sat 2 dogs in Yorba Linda last Aug, which is desert. It was 95/100 degrees during the day. So I only walked the dogs at 6 am and 7 pm. They used the dog flap other times.
Pet flaps with RFID collars are a thing as well — prevents other animals / wildlife from entering your home. They’re supposed to let in only your pet(s).
There have been unintended consequences with pet flaps, though. Like I saw a video on social media where there was a dog flap and the pet ended up dragging a hose (which presumably was sprinkling the grass in the yard) into the house, creating a mess while the homeowner was out. They had an internal camera that recorded the mishap.
I locked myself out while housesitting, and was very thankful for the doggy door!
I always wonder if I could squeeze through one in case of emergency 
My brother has one and has a video of a giant snake using it to get into the house. 
So there are pros and cons! (It was a nonpoisonous snake and he removed it but STILL… 
)
Take your hat off first @Colin, or even better send Karyo in first 
I know I couldn’t even with a ton of butter! Have you read The girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark? Thin is definitely the way to be in emergencies!
..but heavier people are harder to kidnap 
That’s very reassuring Colin, as I keep up my body building project… yep another ginger nut!
Years ago, I read a book about North Korea and it said that the fittest people died first when famine hit, because they had little body fat to fall back on. So I thought, I’ll be better off when famine hits! That made me laugh macabrely, because when we were kids, our mom would always say, “You’ll be sorry when famine comes,” whenever we didn’t finish our food. (During my grandmother’s generation, they lived through famine in our homeland.)
I was a swimmer at school and university level and I remember a weird conversation at a boarding school dining table where the group decided who they would reckon would be great to eat. I was chosen as I exercised all year round! Ha ha! I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or offended.
With Covid and other plague fears I think it’s good to have muscle to run and isolate but extra weight for fevers not to take their toll!
The biscuit barrel needs to be rolled out in my book. Finished the Ginger Snaps now working on the HOBNOBS!
I’d like to see that @Colin with your hat on though 
Me too! I can picture it already ! Also the Pet Sitter extra requirement.. sitters with a fuller figure or over 12 stone need not apply!
Fat chance I would be selected!
You would have to take your hat off
Sorry - too late - others have mentioned this
Love this thread, it’s hilarious, we miss a good comedy event with pet sitting all the time
One of our house sits had a Labrador-sized dog flap. It was great! I don’t think one of my sons ever used it to enter the house (Will certainly could, he’s much skinnier than a Lab!) I do remember one day we had gone out in coats and were baking hot. We were passing the house and couldn’t be bothered to open the front door and disable the alarm to put the coats inside, so we went through the back gate and posted them through the dog flap!
Last time we returned to sit for them they told us they had got rid of the dog flap. They said it was because a fox had taken to visiting the garden and the Ozzie would go out barking furiously in the middle of the night. Next morning on the dog walk I bumped into another dog walker who delighted in telling me the full details of the Ozzie’s recent unauthorised visit to the pub! He had escaped from their large garden having discovered another hole in the hedge and fence and had crossed a worryingly busy road. This was not his first escape attempt, so I suspect this is the real reason the dog flap was removed. I think Ozzie has a reputation in the village now, and is better known in the pub than his owners!
I’ve sat dogs and cats with flaps, but their flaps had a door for overnight — a piece of metal or thick plastic. I’d remove it in the morning and slide it back into place after the pets had returned for the night. The kitties often wanted to go out while it was still dark and I was supposed to keep them inside, to avoid them getting nabbed by coyotes or such.
OK, here goes …
One of my first sits was for a big goofy dog. The HOs had ordered a new back door with a dog flap and wondered if they could arrange for it to be installed during the sit. I had just started to voraciously read this forum and felt it was reasonable to decline this request and suggest they have it installed when they returned. One extremely windy day the dog was freaking out because a plastic grocery/carrier bag had gotten stuck in a tree branch and was flapping wildly. I went out to retrieve it and the wind blew the door shut and it locked (with my phone and all Welcome Guide access inside). So I had to go to a neighbour to call a locksmith to rectify the situation. It cost about $80 if I recall correctly. I always wondered if I would have fit through that dog flap on the new door…