My family had a liquor store quite a few years back.

Customers were politely asked to leave at closing time. If they didn't take the hint, we'd close (not lock!) the doors and let them know the 'guard dogs' were going to be let out.

I had a pet Rottweiller and my brother had a German Shepherd which came with us when we had the late shift and spent the day lounging around the office and stockroom, begging for treats and pats. They were the sweetest dogs you could get but were large and could look menacing, especially if you were afraid of dogs (most shoplifters!).

One glimpse of my 55kg Rotty standing in the office doorway with his grumpy owner who wanted to go home and customers would be out of there before you knew it.

Christmas and New Year's Eve were the worst for not being able to get customers to leave. We'd have people banging on the doors after closing, complaining that they hadn't bought their Christmas booze and abusing us for not letting them in.

One year, several cars parked across the car park driveway, preventing the staff from leaving. None of them were regulars and would not listen when we told them it was illegal for us to sell after closing. The boys in blue had to be called, with several failing the resulting breath tests. Not a good start to their Christmas break!