Introduction
The first mistake you can make in buying pet gates, is buying
one too late. If you know you are picking up a new dog, you
should pick up gates before your puppy arrives in his new
home.
Don't wait for an accident or near accident to protect your
puppy from dangerous areas in your home. In addition, if you
are not crate training, you will want to start creating boundaries
for your puppy as soon as possible, so he/she will not be
confused in the house training process.
The second mistake is buying the wrong product for your application.
As you will see, our site provides the best quality gates
for every application you may encounter in and around your
home. What's vitally important though, is to only use one
in an application where it is intended to be installed. For
example, a pressure mounted gate may be a great idea to eliminate
any drilling into your walls, but is it safe, lets say, on
a staircase? Absolutely not! Pressure gates work well between
doorways and hallways, provided there is solid wood construction.
Stairs are usually placed next to hollow walls which, when
under pressure, will create a dent in the wall and rapidly
loosen the pressure fit, creating a dangerous situation. In
addition, Stair posts (Newell posts) have irregular surfaces,
making a poor mounting condition for a pressure gate.
For proper selection of any gates used in your home please
refer to our Gates
Selector or our Comparison
Chart.
When your puppy is starting to explore their new home, it's
time to install gates wherever potential hazards may be present
around your home; at the top of stairs, at the bottom of stairs,
and in between rooms and hallways for examples. This will
communicate to your inquisitive which areas are off-limits.
When purchasing safety gates for your home, there are several
things to keep in mind: type of gate, its associated features,
and the overall safety of the product.
Types of Mounting
Pressure-Mounted
- Pressure mounted gates can be installed
without the use of specials tools and can be installed in
just a few minutes. Placed in the opening, adjustable feet
can be expanded to tighen against two solid wall surfaces
to create a safe installation. These dog gates are typically
used between rooms and hallways, but should not be used at
the top or bottom of stairs.
Hardware-Mounting
- This type of gate is mounted with screws
mounted directly into a solid wall or wood post (or used in
conjunction with our mounting kits) to provide the maximum
strength and protection for you dogs. Top of stair applications
would used only Hardware Mounted gates the have integral swing-stop
mechanisms to prevent gates from swings out over the stairwell.
The gate should also have no fix horizontal bar on the bottom
that can cause a tripping hazard. Check out these great products
for top of stair applications - G20
Safeway for Stairs by Kidco or the Secure
Solutions Swing™ Gate by Evenflo.
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