Lindam Have Got Things Under Control (Lindam Easy Fit Dog Control Gate)

Member Name: FourPaws

Product:	Lindam Easy Fit Dog Control Gate
Date:	16/07/09 (188 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to fix & operate, useful, practical, good height, sturdy.

Disadvantages: None

*What is the Lindam Easy Fit Dog Control Gate?*
This home safety device for pet owners is produced by the Lindam company, the popular manufacturers of a wide range of safety gates, specialising in baby and stair gates and other home safety equipment.

*The product itself*
Our little cottage is extremely old and had been empty for many years before myself and my fiancé moved in, we managed to get the basics sorted but at the time we were both veterinary care students, living on a typical student wage and seemed to have very little to spare! However, fast forward ten or so years, we've thankfully both graduated our studies and the house is in a bit better order, but it still lacks various things...

With a huge collection of pets, most of our money gets spent on them, which means the house is the neglected one and we don't have various, erm, 'luxuries', such as, well, doors! We've got the front and back ones obviously, but internal doors are very few and far between and it's just something we have never got round to sorting!

Most of the time, it really doesn't matter, but with two dogs who are affectionately known as 'The Velcro Duo' due to the fact they are stuck as close as possible to my side at all times, there are occasions such as when I need to do a bit of cleaning, tend to another one of the animals or generally just need the two of them out the way for a little while, and this is when I wish we had doors so they could be shut in another room! With both mine and my fiancés DIY skills majorly lacking however, there still doesn't look like much chance of doors being hung, so stair gates are the ideal solution.

Grace and Benson however, being the crafty little sods that they are, recently discovered that they can jump over the normal baby gates, so in desperate need of another solution, I had a quick search online and came across these Lindam Easy Fit Dog Control Gates.

They have been made by the same crowd who produce the ever popular baby stair gates but have had a few little design tweaks preformed on them to produce a gate that is suitable for dog owning households, and provides an effective way of containing dogs in one chosen room, or blocking off forbidden areas such as staircases or bedrooms.

They are made from white coated strong steel construction and are adjustable to fit doorways between 75cm and 84cm, with a height of 108cm, so are suitable for pretty much any doorway and dog. They are pressure mounted, requiring no screws or drilling to fix the gate in place and open both ways, making them highly practical and unobtrusive within the home.

With a distance between the bars of between 4.8cm and 5.5cm (depending on the width of your doorway) they still allow cats to pass through and an easy to operate locking handle and anti pinch hinge, make them entirely owner friendly!

*Packaging*
The gate comes packaged, already assembled, in a large white cardboard box which gives full instructions on how to fit the gate and how to do various things such as make adjustments and work the locking handle. Also printed on the box is contact details for Lindam should you have any questions or comments and the box can be recycled once no longer needed.

*Price & Availability*
The Lindam Dog Control Gate is available from various places such as hardware shops and pet stores, both on and off line, although do shop around as I have found the price to vary greatly from place to place.

I purchased our gate from Argos for £35.19.

*My opinion*
Up until recently, I have to admit I never knew such item existed! We've been using baby gates in our home for years to confine the dogs to certain rooms when required and we've never had any problems. Grace and Benson however, are on an on-going mission, and that missions happens to be ''Make life as hard as possible for our owners!''. Each and every day they appear to purposely find something to do which is going to cause a problem and it seems they get great pleasure from this!

A couple of months ago, one of their daily mischief making sessions was demonstrating quite clearly to me that both of them could sail over the baby gate with ease! I'd never even seen them attempt to do it before, but over they went with an effortless jump and then sat there looking at me as if to say ''well you shouldn't have trained us to do agility then should you?!''. I did try to threaten them with Battersea Dogs Home but I got a vacant look.

Anyway, as much as I love the pair of them, we are together literally 24 hours 7 days a week, so I think it is healthy for all involved to have time apart occasionally, and teach them to cope with me not around- so a couple of evenings a week they will chill out in the kitchen whilst me and my fiancé relax in the lounge. With no baby gate in place however, the dogs would be free to roam from the kitchen through to the lounge, so I went online straight away to have a look for another option.

The first gate geared specifically at dogs owners I came across was this one on the Argos site, it was reasonably priced and ticked all the boxes, so I reserved one for in store pickup and popped into town to collect it. Back at home, I unpackaged it and set about getting it in place.

The gate thankfully lived up to its name- it was indeed, very easy to fit. All you are required to do is place the gate in the desired door way and lift it to required height- I chose about 15cm off the ground, and then use the fixings at the side to pressure mount the gate to the door frame. You may need to get a friend or partner to help you however, as it is a little bit awkward trying to keep the gate at the right height whilst adjusting the pressure mounting fixings.

Once fitted, it looked fine. A gate- whether for children or dogs- is never going to make an attractive addition to a home, but this Lindam one didn't look too bad. It was smart, practical and nice enough looking, and although significantly higher than a baby gate, this wasn't really noticeable. The handle was incredibly easy to work also. At first, it was a little stiff but this soon loosened up and it enables you to easily open and close the gate with one hand, and you don't need any particular strength to open/close the lock either, so even those with arthritis and similar shouldn't struggle at all.

Right, with it in place and me familiar with how to operate it, I let the terrible twosome back in the house to let them have a nosey. I had fixed the gate to the kitchen doorway to separate the lounge and the kitchen and left the dogs in the kitchen whilst I went the other side of the gate and set about having a little clean around. Benson immediately went to jump it and I have to admit I was extremely chuffed which myself when he realised he couldn't, judging by his reaction however, Benson clearly wasn't. Believe me, if looks could kill!

Anyway, my dogs probably have brains the size of a peanut- that's about half a peanut each by the way, not a whole one each so it was inevitable that Grace would too try and jump it, despite the fact she is a much smaller dog than Benson. Needless to say, her attempt failed also, and the pair of them went off to sulk before returning ten minutes later and trying a different tactic of sitting side by side at the gate, peering over with the saddest of puppy dog eyes. Oh, what a mean owner I am eh?!

The gate has now been in place for a couple of months and thankfully, neither of the dogs have managed to jump over it, which I'm very grateful about seeing as that was the sole reason for purchase. They sometimes stand on their hind legs with front paws resting on the top of the gate, but that's about all they can do, they certainly have no way of getting over it. Despite the fact that it is a large gate, it has caused no little problems within the home whatsoever- the cats can easily slip between the bars when they want to pass from the kitchen to the lounge when the gate is in use or they can quite easily jump on the top of it and then down the other side- much to Grace and Benson's disgust believe me!

All in all, a very handy product and one that we have got a lot of use from. Don't get me wrong- the dogs aren't confined to the kitchen all the time, they generally have free run of the house, they are just shut in there for a few minutes or an hour maximum each day so I can do various bits and pieces without them being right there beside me. The gate enables them to still see me, so they do not get anxious, and the safe non-pinch hinge prevents any danger of them nipping any part of their body, or mine, when the gate is opening or closing.

It is also handy for when non doggie loving visitors call- as much as I try to avoid them ;) - no, in seriousness, the gate enables me to pop Grace and Benson safely out of the way without upsetting them, having them completely excluded or having to confine them to their crates.

So to conclude, a fantastic item which makes a handy addition to any dog owning household!

Summary: Proof that out smarting Grace & Benson *can* be done!