Seven years ago, a chance encounter with a staffordshire bull terrier wearing a scarlet neckerchief in a pub gave London-based film-maker Abbie Lucas and journalist Paul Fleckney an idea. For their new book, Great British Pub Dogs (published 19 October by Little, Brown), the pair travelled the country to document the canine residents of around 70 UK pubs. “It’s really useful knowing where they all are,” says Fleckney, who, like Lucas, doesn’t own a dog but would love to. “Most pubs aspire to be a home from home and having a dog does that almost singlehandedly,” he adds. “They seem to bring people together. So many publicans said how the dog seems to make people more friendly and less likely to misbehave.”