Finding The Perfect Baby Gate With Pet Door

There are such a wide variety of baby gates in large part because the needs of those could use them are so diverse. If you are a pet owner, regardless of if you have a baby in the family as well, having the right baby gate with pet door in your space can make a big difference for daily convenience and pet safety.

We all have different needs as families, and a baby gate with pet door can increase convenience greatly for some families. Carlson is the only manufacturer of gates with pet doors, due to their patents. This is their Extra Wide Walk Through gate.

There are many different places throughout the home where you might want to put a baby gate with pet door, from skinny doorways to wide entryways, from the top of the stairs to the bottom of a stairwell, from indoors to outdoors.

With so much use out of one category of products you would think there would be a ton of selection when it comes to baby gates with pet doors. However, there is actually only one company allowed to sell them in the U.S. Carlson Pet Products managed to get multiple patents on the simple idea of a small gate within a gate. As a result, they are the only company you will see selling gates with pet doors inside them today.

Fortunately, Carlson gates are fairly well liked, and they are of high enough quality to please most pet owners.

Let’s take a look at a quick comparison of some of the top-rated Carlson gates with pet doors before examining some individual models in more detail below.

Comparing The Best Baby Gates With Pet Doors

Examining Pet Door Gates In More Detail

Hopefully the comparison table above was useful in getting a quick look into which baby gate with pet door might be the best fit for your home. Below we will go ahead and examine some of the most popular models in more detail to give you even more information as you make your decision.

Carlson Extra Wide & Extra Tall Walk Through Gates

The Carlson Extra Tall vs Extra Wide gate models.

Among the most popular of Carlson’s baby gates with pet doors are their standard Walk Through models, which come in both an Extra Tall variety and Extra Wide variety.

At 41 inches tall, the Extra Tall model is great if you have a larger pet (such as a golden retriever, lab, etc) or a larger child that you would like to make sure is barricaded and can’t jump the gate, while a smaller pet (such as a cat or small dog) can easily traverse through when the pet gate is open. They are ideal for doorways, however, an included 6 inch expansion and expansions sold separately up to 24 inches can make the Extra Tall variety fit many spaces throughout the home.

The Extra Wide model, on the other hand, is 10 inches shorter at 31 inches tall. However, out of the box it can fit spaces between 29 – 44 inches wide, making it a very versatile gate. You can see it compare in size to the Extra Tall gate in the image to the right.

The pet doors on both models are 10 x 7 inches. There is a spring-loaded pin that latches it shut to the larger walk through door.

Both of these gates are walk through gates, meaning you can pass through the gate yourself using their one-hand-operable doors. They are also both made from all-steel construction, to give it the best chance of standing up sturdy against your pets.

These pet gates are pressure mounted, meaning if you have a larger dog who means business when he or she plays, it’s still entirely possible for this type of gate to be knocked down. Some dogs laugh in the face of confinement, and will do their best to break right through. As a result, you may want to consider getting the cheap addition of a pressure gate wall protector, to go in between the pressure spindles and your wall. This can have the double benefit of both tightening your connection, and protecting your wall and paint from damage should your pet end up blasting down the gate.

Carlson Maxi Walk Through Pet Gate

If the Extra Wide Carlson gate above isn’t actually wide enough for your space, and you’d rather not spend money on the extensions for the Extra Tall gate, consider the Carlson Maxi Walk Through Gate instead, as it stretches up to 59 inches wide and is hardware mounted instead of pressure mounted.

The Carlson Maxi gate is the same height as their Extra Wide model, at 31 inches. While it can fit spaces up to 59 inches, it has a smaller fit tolerance, as it also has a minimum fit space of 50 inches. If your walls are between 50-59 inches apart, you are good to go with this gate.

With that said, if you remove one of the panels this gate will also fit walls 34-39 inches apart. And you can add this 24 inch extension if you would like to fit even larger spaces of 74-83 inches wide.

This model can be so wide that there is no way it could hold with a pressure mount. So to assemble the Maxi gate you will hardware mount it by screwing the included hardware into your wall. Usually you will be screwing into a door jamb, which will result in a very sturdy hold.

One of the primary concerns when getting a baby gate with pet door is, are the bars spaced close enough together to keep out my smaller pets? Carlson specializes in this, so there’s a good chance they have got it right for your pet. Some customers have reported even their cats unable to sneak through the bars, and only being able to get through by using the pet door.

Another common question is, will this work outdoors? Since it’s hardware mounted, the Maxi may be the better model to consider if you are putting up an outdoor barrier gate with a pet door. However, it is not necessarily recommended for outdoor use and will accumulate rust in the joints and weld spots, requiring more frequent replacement than you would likely want. Instead, you could consider the couple of weatherproof outdoor pet gates Carlson has, although they do not have pet doors.

Carlson Design Studio Home Decor Walk Through Pet Gate

One model that is a little different than the rest is the Carlson Design Studio Walk Through Pet Gate. Unlike the vast majority of Carlson gates that are white, this Home Decor model is charcoal bronze with a cherry wood accent at the top of the gate.

Its walk through door is also a little fancier than most, with an auto close feature that makes for a softer close and one where you do not need to turn around and close it no matter which direction it was opened from.

It is pressure mounted and fits doorways up to 37.5 inches wide. While it is slightly pricier than some of the other Carlson pet gate models, it is not expensive compared to many baby gate brands, and the more elegant look of this model works very nicely for many pet owners who are searching for that baby gate with pet door that will not clash with their home’s decor.

More Pet Gates

If you haven’t found what you are looking for with the baby gates with pet doors above, you may want to browse this larger variety of pet gates to find more types of gates and barriers that fit your criteria better.