The Cardboard Box Trick: Sizing a Greyhound's Pet Door Before Cutting Any Glass

A customer in Drysdale wanted a pet door put in for her greyhound. Before booking anything, she did something we wish more people did.

She cut different sized openings in a cardboard box and let the dog use it, until she found the size that actually suited him.

Why that matters more with glass than with a timber door

A pet door in a timber door is a mistake you can live with, or patch, or re-cut.

Glass is not like that. The opening is cut into the panel during manufacture, so the size is committed before the glass ever reaches the house. Get it wrong and the fix is a whole new panel, not an adjustment.

Testing the opening with a cardboard box first costs nothing and removes the one part of the job that cannot be undone. Tall, deep-chested breeds like greyhounds and whippets are exactly where people tend to guess wrong, because the height they need through the shoulder is greater than their size suggests.

Supplying the panel, not just the flap

With the size confirmed, we supplied a new custom-made glass panel with a Clear View Pet Door already fitted, a unit designed specifically for toughened safety glass.

That is the part worth understanding: this is not a pet door installed into an existing panel. Toughened glass cannot be cut, drilled or modified after it is made, so any opening has to be part of the panel from manufacture. That is why the whole panel is replaced.

The finished install sits flush with the existing sliding door and reads as though it was always there.

About the pet door itself

Clear View Pet Doors are Australian-made from tough, UV-stable polycarbonate, with strong magnets for wind resistance and a full perimeter seal. They suit cats through to large and tall breeds, and lockable flaps are available.

Before

After

The job in short

• Site: Residential, Drysdale
• Pet: Greyhound
• Sizing: Customer trialled openings with a cardboard box before ordering
• Supplied: Custom-made toughened glass panel with Clear View Pet Door fitted
• Why a full panel: Toughened glass cannot be cut or drilled after manufacture
• Compliance: AS1288