Door handles are one of those things that have not changed very much in hundreds of years … our genuine antiques still look, and more importantly still function pretty much like door handles that are made today. This also makes it possible to easily and fairly economically create reproductions of antique door knobs also. They are not like the antique iron (which was, at a time, little more than a piece of shaped metal, heated, with a wooden handle so that you could hold it without burning yourself. They are also, at this stage (!) not like the antique clothes dryer – which had no electrical wiring, used no heat, and definitely didn’t shrink your clothes … it was better known as a mangle!

However, it seems like door knobs have finally made a great evolutionary leap. The Baser door handle was, like all inventions, born out of one person’s necessity, which was happily coupled with a bit of technical know-how. This particular door handle is a push-pull design – you need less than a pound of force (not very much!) to push it to allow the door to open, and even on the pull side there is no grabbing or twisting required. This has meant it has been approved and accredited by the American Disabled Association (ADA), and is great for people with arthritis … or even a lazy streak who’d prefer not to expend any more effort than necessary in doing something as boring as opening a door!

As an added bonus, it can easily be opened by dogs! While that may sound trite to begin with, actually it is extremely handy for disabled people who have assistance dogs – for blind people, and for people in wheelchairs or who for some other reason find it difficult to reach door handles the dog can open the door for them. Even from the pull side, all that is needed is a simple tug attachment in order to enable the dog to open the door from this side too. Wonderful!
We have mentioned in other blog posts about lever handles that they are much easier for people with limited movement and dexterity to open, and also the fact that lever handles are much easier for pets to open (although even round door handles didn’t stop one enterprising cat!). When talking about pets, they create a bit of a conundrum – and this is also the case with these push handles. The problem is that you don’t really want to train your dog or cat that it is okay to jump up on things, especially on your antique doors! And if they jump up and are immediately ‘rewarded’ by the door opening, which they were no doubt asking for, it sets up a pattern of behaviour that is hard to break. While you might not get as many scratches per opening as if you had lever handles or even un-openable handles, the fact that it is so easy to do will probably encourage your pet to jump up. And you probably don’t want them to learn that jumping is alright … you’ll end up with paw prints constantly covering the fronts of your clothes – and a very sore gut!

However, the push handles can be so ‘handy’ (!) that it is worth finding a way around this – you can quite easily train your dog or cat not to jump with just a little patience, persistence and watchfulness – have a look at our post in the April 2007 archives about training cats not to open doors, or this one about training dogs for the same thing. Many dogs love learning things, too – you’ll be spending some quality time with your pet while also protecting your home!

The other alternative is to purchase the locking versions of these door handles, and to leave them locked when you are not using them. If your pet isn’t ‘rewarded’ by having the door open when they jump on it, they aren’t likely to continue the behaviour.

But for the minute, if you are looking for style and elegance … not an excuse to train your dog or cat some more (!), then have a look at our range of door handles!

          

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