Keys, Locks and Doors

'The lock can be a bit dicky, just turn it left, then right and put your shoulder to the door it sticks a bit in wet weather.'

For every dog, we walk there is a house, yard, fence lock and key. And for every lock, door, gate, there is a set of instructions on how to get the bloody thing open and closed.

Some houses have a key for the security door, a key for the front door, a key for the back door, with the dog waiting in the yard. Some homes have to be unlocked going in and relocked going out. So grill doors need two hands to lift to get the lock to release. Some sliding doors have a key, with a deadbolt top and bottom. Some apartment blocks have an electronic gadget to automatically open the garage door and to use in the lift, plus the apartment door key - we do this going up to pick up the dog and then again when we return the dog.

A dog walk of four dogs could mean 12 keys, and maybe an apartment gadget. When we pick up our keys for three walks of four dogs per walk, we can be handling two dozen keys. No two doors are alike, no two apartment blocks are entered the same way, no two gates are opened or closed the same way.

When I have time to write my book about ten years walking dogs, the title will be 'Keys, Locks and Doors. Ten years walking dogs'.

Hannah