The best way we have been exposed to, by our customers who have pets who want to keep them out of certain areas without the use of gates is the Scat Mat Indoor Pet Training mat. You put the mat in front of the area you don't want the pet to enter, if the pet steps on the scat mat, it delivers a very light 3 second pulse of energy, effectively keeping your pet out of the area. After a few weeks, you can take up the scat mat and your pet will have been trained to still not enter the room. The mat is powered by only a 9V battery, so it's a very low power pulse to the pads of the pet's feet.