How to Measure Your Dog for a New Pet Door

The most important step when purchasing a new pet door is measuring your pet to ensure the proper fit. In this guide, we’ll go over how to measure your dog to determine the perfect size Dragon Pet Door for them.

Measure Your Dog’s Height

While your dog is standing still, measure the distance from the floor to the top of their withers (shoulder blades). This is the height you will need to know when choosing a pet door size for them.

Factor in the Step-Over

The Step-Over is the distance from the ground to the bottom of the Dragon Pet Door Flap. You will need to factor this in when selecting flap size following these guidelines:

Step-Over + Flap Height = Top of the Flap

The step-over should be no more than ⅓ of your pet’s height for the most comfortable use. A good rule of thumb for step-over is the lower, the better. As dogs grow older, their joints weaken and it becomes harder to navigate stairs and steps.

You can think of step-over in the same way. A step they may have been able to fly over when they were young becomes much more challenging in old age. Keeping the step-over nice and low allows your dog to use their Dragon Pet Door for their entire life.

For the Dragon Wall Mount, the step-over can be as low as 1”. For the Dragon Door Mount, we recommend a minimum step-over of 3” to maintain the integrity of the door. To conclude, this is the formula to determine the flap height your dog needs:

Top of the Flap = At Least 1” Taller than Your Pet’s Shoulder Height

Measurement Tip: If you’re unsure about size, you can cut out a piece of cardboard to the height and width of the flap size you’re thinking about and have your dog(s) walk through to check. Remember to leave a few inches at the bottom of the cutout to simulate the step-over!

Measure Your Dog’s Width

Measure your dog’s width at the widest point of their body that will be moving through the door. The pet door should allow about 1” of additional space. For instance, if your dog is 7” wide, we recommend the pet flap be at least 8” wide to accommodate them.

In addition to the cardboard cutout trick, you can try opening a door to this width to see if they can get through comfortably.

Multi-Dog Homes

If you have more than one dog, you’ll want to select the pet door size that will fit your largest dog. For large and small dogs sharing, keep the step-over as low as possible to allow the smaller dog to move through comfortably.

The Dragon Flap is very lightweight, so a small dog will be able to navigate the larger flap size needed to accommodate the larger dog.

To recap, the top of the flap (flap height + step-over) should be at least 1” taller than your dog’s shoulder height. The flap width should be about 1” wider than the widest point of your pet’s body.

We hope this helped clarify how to measure your pet for the perfect-sized Dragon Pet Door! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to customer service at any time with sizing questions.