In the morning hours of the last day of February, I picked up a distress call from Shepherd's Bush. Mrs P needed help the same day in the afternoon. After coming back from the hospital, she could not walk her little Jack Russel girl, Poppy. I was waiting patiently for a local dog-walking mission - and here it came! Well, it was not exactly local to me. Assuming that I will do the mission without violating the conventional lunch break timings was verging on the realm of science fiction. So I clicked 'Sign up'.

At 1:30 pm I was on my way. The run was not particularly exciting apart from a bird poo missing my body by two inches. I arrived five minutes early and encountered the first hurdle which was to make my way into the building. The intercom was not working. With Mrs P's blessing, I sneaked inside while someone else was exiting.

Mrs P thanked me for coming and warned me that Poppy doesn't get along with other dogs, then she handed me the poo bags and the key to the building gate. Poppy was desperate to go outside, even with me. I grabbed the lead - but Poppy was the one who took the lead. That was her hood and her walk, so she was the boss. There was nowhere safe to give her time off-lead, so we went for a pavement walk.

Poppy showed me around her favourite backstreets and the best spots to have a pee (at least if you are a dog). I only objected when she started continuously pulling towards Westfield. That was not a shopping mission. I took Poppy back to Shepherd's Bush Green, keeping her away from other dogs. I was hoping she will find it convenient to sort out her toilet there but unfortunately, that didn't happen. After 20-odd minutes of a decent pace walking, Poppy decided it is time to go home. Surprisingly, she started pulling me to the building adjacent to her home. I had no idea why. Suddenly, a lady emerged from the gate. She happened to be Poppy's and Mrs P's friend who used to walk Poppy from time to time. There was a lot of tail wagging when Poppy met a familiar human.

I wish I could give Poppy more than half an hour and that she knew me better to be more comfortable around me. Mrs P was very grateful and even wanted to pay me but I explained that what I do is volunteering. Although it was a one-off mission, Mrs P still needs someone to walk Poppy and would be very happy if I could come back again.