We presently live in the Mojave desert on Fort Irwin in California. Our dog is getting older and doesn't control her bladder as well anymore so she needs to go out 10-15 times a day, if not more. So initially we would just open the sliding door to the backyard and let her go in and out. As the summer arrived, it was obvious that we don't want to keep the sliding door open without some sort of covering, so after some research, I found this product and am using it as a full size "doggy door" to control our indoor climate and it works great!!