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Original poster

Parking when there are dogs around

738 replies

TheQuirkyMaker · 02/02/2026 08:05

I was in our local park yesterday, talking to another dog owner, when an SUV swept in right beside us, halted, and reversed into a parking space. As it reversed, I slapped it on the roof. The driver jumped out, angry, and I think was ready to give me a slap. I said the car park was empty (it was, it serves about 200 cars) and he had no need to park next to us and potentially hit a dog. He said he was parking near the skate park for his children, and our dogs should be on a lead (they weren't). They are elderly, obedient little dogs, and don't need to be on a leash but they are little and could be hit by a car.
I told him to "F--- Off" and felt okay at the time but couldn't sleep last night for worrying who was in the right.
Was I the unreasonable one?

OP posts:
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FMLGFastMovingLuxuryGoods · 02/02/2026 17:42

ApplebyArrows · 02/02/2026 17:20

A driver who is a danger to dogs is likely a danger to children. Should they be on leads too?

Also children who can skate can walk to the skate park.

Cars rot people's brains. Especially SUVs.

Edited

How do SUVs rot brains?!

dadtoateen · 02/02/2026 17:41

Just thinking out loud….. you told him to fuck off when you knew kids could hear it?

that is just plain wrong, what a lovely person you are

Blushingm · 02/02/2026 17:39

ApplebyArrows · 02/02/2026 17:20

A driver who is a danger to dogs is likely a danger to children. Should they be on leads too?

Also children who can skate can walk to the skate park.

Cars rot people's brains. Especially SUVs.

Edited

SUVs rot brains? What on earth or you talking about???

The driver likely isn’t a danger at all but the OP obviously is an irresponsible dog owner letting a deaf dog wander around a large carpark that serves a large park

Sophue · 02/02/2026 17:38

You are never going to accept that you were completely in the wrong.

FMLGFastMovingLuxuryGoods · 02/02/2026 17:32

TheQuirkyMaker · 02/02/2026 09:38

What is all about, is my little collie is dying of old age, she can't climb stairs, jump into cars, chase balls, hear cars approaching, I just don't know what we emotionally load on to dogs, but their deaths tear our hearts. Life is hard enough without those little babies sleeping next to us, with their breaths getting slower and slower.

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Perhaps not a good idea to keep her off the lead in a place where cars are gonna be driving round then

FMLGFastMovingLuxuryGoods · 02/02/2026 17:27

Also if you banged my car with my DC in (especially when I have a son who’s easily scared and v sensitive, that would scare the shit out of him) you’d be LUCKY to get away with just a few cross words

EllyMcBelly · 02/02/2026 17:26

upstairsdownstairscardboardbox · 02/02/2026 14:31

This thread is a fascinating insight into the mind of a modern dog owner!

Not all of us - I keep mine on a lead until we are somewhere where it's safe to let him off and I don't stand around yakking in the middle of the car park!

FMLGFastMovingLuxuryGoods · 02/02/2026 17:26

TheQuirkyMaker · 02/02/2026 08:13

Okay, maybe I was in the wrong. But an empty car park? Why decide to park near other cars anyway? And little dogs wandering around?

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Doesn’t everyone always park near other cars?! It’s safer! It’s not like a restaurant or public transport where being unnecessarily close is an imposition

Stillhere83 · 02/02/2026 17:24

Your dogs also should have been on the lead. It doesn't matter if you know they won't do anything, other people don't.

FMLGFastMovingLuxuryGoods · 02/02/2026 17:24

YABVU

How dare you cause damage to someone’s property just because they didn’t centre your dogs which should have been on a lead.

Wowwhataworld · 02/02/2026 17:23

And this is a thread that will be referred to in years to come. Absolutely mad, YABVU

Chilesstanton · 02/02/2026 17:20

It’s a parking lot, not a talking lot. Take your unleashed dogs and chat elsewhere. My kid has an invisible disability and I would park wherever I wanted. Did anything actually happen to your animal? You sound a few grapes short of a bunch with this op.

ApplebyArrows · 02/02/2026 17:20

A driver who is a danger to dogs is likely a danger to children. Should they be on leads too?

Also children who can skate can walk to the skate park.

Cars rot people's brains. Especially SUVs.

northernballer · 02/02/2026 17:19

Sorry to hear about your collie, I lost mine just before Xmas and it's hard.

What did the person you were with say? Did they look embarrassed? I think you were unreasonable and wonder what they made of it.

Angela2222 · 02/02/2026 17:14

TheQuirkyMaker · 02/02/2026 08:13

Okay, maybe I was in the wrong. But an empty car park? Why decide to park near other cars anyway? And little dogs wandering around?

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It’s a public car park, your dogs shouldn’t just be wandering around 😂

Isittimeformynapyet · 02/02/2026 17:11

TheQuirkyMaker · 02/02/2026 08:23

No it was just random parking in a huge empty car park. He just rolled near us and reversed without looking. From the viewpoint of the posters here, I think it was deliberate- perhaps he was angry about dog shit in the park (I always clean it up) and wanted to make his feelings plain. For dog lovers, dogs are sometimes our most cherished company, which non-dog-lovers never understand.

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Which was it:

He wasn't looking?

Or he deliberately went to run over your dog?

You're making stuff up and getting worse every post.

EllyMcBelly · 02/02/2026 17:09

saveforthat · 02/02/2026 09:26

I have some sympathy for the op. Yes her dog should be on a lead but people should drive slowly and carefully in a car park. It's almost like the driver did it to prove a point. Also what if the op had toddlers with her instead of dogs? Even if you were holding their hand it would be scary.

Reading her replies I don't believe that he "swept in" or "banged into reverse"
She's mad because he dared to park next to her. Then added loads of crap about his character, of which she knows nothing, than called him a cunt...
She lacks the necessary warmth and depth to be a cunt...

As for the "on their phones" and tiktok rants I'm seriously confused. Sounds like rather than the other driver hating dogs, perhaps she hates parents and children?

G5000 · 02/02/2026 17:09

You don't know he wasn't looking. I don't crane over my shoulder when I'm parking, I don't need to because I'm using all of my mirrors.

I don't look over my shoulder when reversing because I have a camera. You wouldn't otherwise see a medium sized dog directly behind your car anyway.

Manxexile · 02/02/2026 17:07

Grammarnut · 02/02/2026 15:44

I have said you are unreasonable because you were in a car park with a dog off the lead. Should have been on the lead and under control. That said, the car driver was thoughtless and should have taken note that dogs were present - it is a driving offence to hit a dog and must be reported as a traffic accident as dogs are property.
So you are both in the wrong.

"... it is a driving offence to hit a dog..."

Sorry, but what law says it is a driving offence to hit a dog?

If I'm driving along within the speed limit and with due care and attention and a dog runs out in front of me giving me no opportunity to avoid hitting it, what driving offence have I committed?

Seriously - it isn't a driving offence if you just hit a dog.

It might be an offence if you don't report it, but that's a different matter

Soontobesingles · 02/02/2026 17:07

Catladywithacat · 02/02/2026 16:57

I hate threads like this because everyone likes to give their OPINION of the law, dogs are allowed of the lead in certain areas this is LAW.
YOUR OPINION on dogs being on a leash is your opinion which nobody cares about.

and you’re wrong for hitting the persons car, you could have been more polite they didn’t hit the dogs.

stop worrying over it as well who cares

This is massively disengenious - there is no 'law' that 'dogs are allowed off leash in certain places' regardless of the safety of everyone involved. The law is that at ALL times (including in your own home) dogs have to be 'under your control'. If your dog is wandering in a public car park and gets hit by a car it was obviously NOT 'under your control', and so you are in violation of the law. The onus for the safety of the dog and other people is the legal responsibility of the owner. So if your dog is off lead and my child pokes it in the eye YOU are liable if the dog bites the child in response.

Ihatetomatoes · 02/02/2026 17:06

Ohpleeeease · 02/02/2026 16:35

You don't know he wasn't looking. I don't crane over my shoulder when I'm parking, I don't need to because I'm using all of my mirrors.

You were very unreasonable and banging on the roof of someone's car when they are legitimately parking is absolutely not on.

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Agree.
I don't need to turn my head because my parking camera shows me what's behind and to the side on my screen. I look at the screen

ConnieHeart · 02/02/2026 17:00

Pistachiocake · 02/02/2026 16:02

How dare he speak to you like that? He should be careful backing in, whether it's to watch for kids or dogs! And unless the person who owns the land says you should use a lead, there's no more need for your dog to have one on than for the man to!
While he CAN park next to the only car in an empty car park (unless someone in my car had a genuine need to be as close as possible, I'd not go right next to the only other car there), he does have a responsibility to back in slowly and watch out.

How dare he explain why he was parking there? Or have you made something up?

Catladywithacat · 02/02/2026 16:57

I hate threads like this because everyone likes to give their OPINION of the law, dogs are allowed of the lead in certain areas this is LAW.
YOUR OPINION on dogs being on a leash is your opinion which nobody cares about.

and you’re wrong for hitting the persons car, you could have been more polite they didn’t hit the dogs.

stop worrying over it as well who cares

ApartFromAllThat · 02/02/2026 16:55

Grammarnut · 02/02/2026 16:38

Children are not property. If the dog was killed or injured (which the OP's dog was not) then that has to be reported to the police because dogs are property.
You may not be aware of dogs being property but there is a whole crusade by cat owners to have cats similarly protected, so that running one over requires the driver to report the accident - cats are not defined as 'property' because they are semi-domesticated (which is why you can't force a cat owner to stop their cat pooing in your garden - because that's not something the owner can prevent short of never letting the cat out - but you can raise a complaint about their dog which they are expected to control as it is their property).

Edited
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And I said children are property?

JH0404 · 02/02/2026 16:52

100% your fault if your poor dog had been hit. The man explained why he parked there (even though he didn’t have to). You were very entitled and so out of line for hitting his car, especially as there were children in it, they were having a nice trip to the park and were met with aggression as soon as they arrived, not good OP