Bringing your dog to the pub is barking mad

There was a time when you could go to the pub in England to have a drink, catch up with friends and unwind after a day’s work. But nowadays no trip to the local is complete without the obligatory dog being present (sometimes dogs plural).

Picture the scene — it’s Friday night in a cosy little pub in a gorgeous village on the Cornish coast, with the wind swirling outside and not a care inside.

I’d driven for more than four hours from my home in Oxfordshire to run a marathon the next morning, and all I wanted was a quiet soft drink and a bit of grub before bed. Not much to ask, really. And it was going so, so well.