It's quite common to find yourself in certain locations and thinking, 'Hmm, this could easily be better.' Trains, buses, offices, parks, shops and cafes, for example. And what's a good way to improve them? Easy. Just put dogs in them.
If someone takes a dog somewhere, it just makes it 100 percent better.
One place that usually can't be improved, though, is the pub. So, when you put a dog in one, better known these days as a 'pub dog', or 'pub doggo', it doesn't just makes it better - it makes it a magical, nirvana-like place where everything is fluffy, everything tastes better, everything is euphoric, nothing is annoying and there's no bad in the world.
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Recognising this unassailable fact, London-based film-maker Abbie Lucas and journalist Paul Fleckney decided the best they could do by us was to travel the country to document the dogs that love hanging out in pubs across the UK. Now their work has been collected in a brand new photo book, the helpfully-titled Great British Pub Dogs.
"It's really useful knowing where they all are. Most pubs aspire to be a home from home and having a dog does that almost singlehandedly," Fleckney told the Guardian. "They seem to bring people together. So many publicans said how the dog seems to make people more friendly and less likely to misbehave."
The pair visited places like Edinburgh's The Dog House, Clapham's The Windmill, the Plough Inn, in Suffolk, and the Rosemary Branch in North London, where they snapped images of a wide variety of doggos.
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All credits: Great British Pub Dogs, by Paul Fleckney and Abbie Lucas
Whether it's finding the paw-fect real ale, trying to cure a hangover with the hair of the dog or in search of bitches (cough) they all look in place.
Take this bearded collie, for example. Aged 62, hasn't shaved since '92, when his band The Bee Carpets broke up and he pursued a solo acoustic career. He sits at the bar drinking at a rate of one Guinness every 2.5 hours, playing the occasional game of pool. Every time he picks up a cue, everyone cheers and watches because he was a legend of the table in late '95.
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His girlfriend, Pearl the miniature schnauzer (pictured below), was always a fan of his band, but wished he'd get a permanent job and stop chasing his dreams.
Credit: Great British Pub Dogs, by Paul Fleckney and Abbie Lucas
Now that he's out of the band, though, she's frustrated by his persistence in spending time in the pub during his early retirement.
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She wears the sleeveless yellow and black jumper, a staple of fans of The Bee Carpets in the '90s. Although they have a rocky relationship, usually after a few ales they reminisce about the good times before Pearl nags him to shave and propose to her.
God bless all pub dogs.
Featured Image Credit: Great British Pub Dogs, by Paul Fleckney and Abbie LucasTopics: Funny, UK Entertainment, Dogs, Pub