Pet owner hack: Install a storm dog door for your pup

When my husband and I started house hunting in 2018, one of our top wish-list features was a yard that we could fence in.

Why it mattered: We had a very large and very active golden retriever. After five years of living in apartments in New York and Minneapolis' North Loop, we were ready for a break from early-morning and late-night potty walks, especially in Minnesota winters.

Yes, but: Once we moved in, we discovered a hiccup to this aspect of homeowner life: The dog wanted to go in said yard all the dang time.

What we did: Spent about $300 on a new storm door with a dog flap and installed it ourselves.

Reality check: It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. More access to the yard meant more trampling of grass, digging of flower beds, and, occasionally, more barking.

The bottom line: Kirby, now 11.5, uses his dog door every day and loves running around the fenced-in yard.

• To us, that's worth it — even if our toddler occasionally used it as an escape route of his own.