For as long as I can remember I have been nervous around dogs, which I guess makes the decision to stay in the pub awarded the ‘Dog Friendly Accommodation of the Year’ at The Yorkshire Post Tourism Awards 2023 a bemusing one.  Well, I have a confession… by the time I realised The Lister Arms was effectively the Garden of Eden for dogs, it was too late to do anything about it – I was already there. And having hauled my family five hours up the A1M to get to the bucolic heart of Yorkshire, there was no way I would have been allowed to about-turn anyway.  Yet life is full of unlikely pairings (who knew Elton John and Eminem were good friends?) and, as it turned out, sticking a cynophobe (someone who fears dogs, to save the Google search) into Yorkshire’s premiere pooch pub was one such asymmetrical but successful coming together. First impressions Any five-hour car journey with small children is likely to result in both physical and mental discomfort. Our journey was …