To take up a bigger table than needed in a cafe?

I hate that dog smell....even more so if a dog is wet.

People must go nose blind to it. Ive had owners say they can't smell a thing. If I walk into a cafe or anywhere and I smell that smell im out of there.

Just not for me.

Dont mind dogs, but not where im eating or sitting or sleeping. And if outside on a lead.

My children are scared of dogs because when they were young they were playing at a park snd some prat was just letting their dog roam round. It jumped up my youngest and knocked her on her back (she was 2) and was jumping all over my eldest too. They stood still the entire time as they've been advised to do but were crying and screaming. The owner was running towards us shouting "its ok hes harmless" yeah brilliant.....i see it all the time irresponsible dog owners round kids play areas just f*ck off somewhere else or keep your dog on a lead.

Not everyone is a dog person. A lot of dog owners dont understand that and get hurt that you dont love their animal. There are too many irresponsible dog owners now.

Sorry to derail the thread but I think its important to give a perspective on why some people dont like dogs with valid reasons 🤷‍♀️

So they are encroaching on staff and customers walking between tables instead? Even better.

Look, OP has described how much space she is taking up with just her and two dogs. If it's unreasonable, posters will point it out and not only to adhere strictly to the points OP wants them to in order to get an answer that suits her better.

But that isn’t why OP is sitting at the bigger table, she explained why, she also stated that the dogs don’t sit under the table, they sit beside it. So it doesn’t matter if it’s a two seater or four seater if they’re beside it.

i think the rage of the dig haters, means they can’t read and comprehend the OPs posts.

I don’t hate dogs. I just find it unhygienic that they’re allowed and also on previous threads I’ve heard of the behaviour of dogs by dog owners.

Dogs in cafes. Nope (unless a working dog).

You are in the Lake District in the Easter holidays and the cafe isn't busy...surprised.

You say you were out on a bike ride.

What do your two dogs do while you cycle-run behind you for miles off leash? Or are they on leash and cause complications with the wheels.

Dogs should not be in cafes. They lick their arses with their tongues and even the most disreputable client in Wetherspoons is innocent of that particular folly.

No, I think it's relevant if someone sits at a 4-seater table by themselves or with multiple dogs. Dogs take up a lot of floor space. Another person or two by themselves could join OP at the table if there are a lack of tables in the cafe – that's not as much of an option if the person has multiple dogs with them. The space is primarily for humans who are paying. If OP wants to both sit at a bigger table than necessary AND take up more space with dogs, then it's even more unreasonable.

It’s fine to take your dog to places that allows them (of course it is!)

Also fine to sit at a larger table. I would and I’d probably offer to move if someone needed it more - not if they turned their nose up at the dogs though.

For every dog friendly cafe there’s likely to be 2 that don’t allow them

Not according to this poster.

In fact, out of a quite absurd number of cafes in my last town (14 within 10 minutes walk), the only one that didn't allow dogs was Costa... and that was always near empty. The others were always packed

Interesting. I'm not a dog person, so i'm very much non-plussed when a dog comes up to me, and really don't know what to do if it won't go away. I'm usually hyper aware of dogs and owners so i can take evasive action if needed.

The one thing that i have picked up is that a trained dog will keep checking back with it's owner. So it might notice me when we are about to pass on the footpath, but it will immediately look at the owner to check all is ok, if the owner ignores me then the dog takes that cue and ignores me too. Basically if the owner isn't interested, neither are they. Dogs that don't check back with their owner are a red flag.

I'm sure as a responsible owner you already know all this, i just wanted you to know that when i see that, i appreciate it.

Double selfishness - taking up a big table and taking dogs into a cafe 🤮

When my Italian friend can't find a table because the large ones are bring hogged, she goes and sits in one of the empty chairs and says hello to the table-hogs.

In fact, out of a quite absurd number of cafes in my last town (14 within 10 minutes walk), the only one that didn't allow dogs was Costa... and that was always near empty. The others were always packed

Yet dog owners tell us that there are plenty of places we can go that don't allow dogs.

It isn’t. If I go to a cafe and there are several babies or toddlers or a group of teenagers or a large loud group I’ll probably choose to go elsewhere but that isn’t the problem of the above parties and I’m sure that in a popular cafe someone will only be too happy to have my seat.

If its quiet or there are still lots of other larger capacity tables available for larger parties that come in then it's usually fine isn't it.

I hate how cluttered 2 seater tables get too.

I suspwect we all go to the same 'Spoons! It is a gorgeous building

Many if not most of the Wetherspoons are in historic buildings, like old banks,
theatres, etc. There is usually some blurb on the wall or on the table about the history of the area/building. Also most of them have carpets specially made to reflect that history. People even make it a hobby to visit as many as they can wherever they go to a new city/town. Wetherspoons seems to have a bad reputation with some people, which it really doesn't deserve. Maybe they actually don't go in there because of it.

It’s hardly entitled if they allow dogs indeed some cafes and pubs positively encourage them and OP is in the Lake District which is about as dog friendly as it gets. It’s for cafes to decide if they do or don’t allow dogs and for you to decide if you want to frequent it but you don’t get to dictate the terms of their business.

I don't see any problem with you taking a larger table instead of a pokey 2 seater. Nor would it bother me if you had a lovely well behaved dog with you.

Crack on any enjoy life and ignore the people that are just plain miserable. If the cafe owner had a problem with it they'd speak to you. I should imagine that right now they are happy to get any customers at all.

I know exactly what you mean space wise particularly with dogs and to be honest it comes down to a mixture of common courtesy and the owner. If they seat you and you get a table for 4, its their problem. If you get to chose where you sit and its not busy and you go for a larger table outside of their busy times, I think that is fair too. Just be aware that if a rush starts, you maybe asked to share.

But I think if its say their main meal times and the place is in high demand, you should sit at a 2 seater table first, but sometimes that is not what is free, so again, be prepared to share if needs be.

Nothing wrong with any of that, and if the business allows dogs, that's their decision too.

A cafe local to me offers a free sausage for ever dog and so whenever we pass, our dog veers off towards that cafe without fail.