Parking when there are dogs around

[TheQuirkyMaker]

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?

As I have written already in a few replies before this. He could have parked anywhere. He had the choice of an entire car park by the sounds of it. But no, he chose to park his big car as close to the skatepark as he could get, where pedestrians were congregated with dogs. And he reversed into the space.

Do you really think that's reasonable? I call that bloody lazy and entitled.

Maybe the OP was inconsiderate to bash on his roof but he was inconsiderate first and the whole encounter wouldn't have some about had he chosen to park away from where people were standing.

First post nails it.

@TheQuirkyMaker YABVVU

Why shouldn’t he park there
i definitely would then could leave kids to it and keep an eye on them whilst sitting in the car

theres an entire park OP could stand talking to her friend and let her dog wonder
but instead OP stood in the carpark

Don't block parking spaces with yourself, children or dogs, or stand or walk behind a car that is reversing.

And reversing into a space in a busy car park is much safer, as you can then drive out and see better. As long as there aren't dopey people standing about with little dogs off a lead. I'd never do that with my dog and if I wanted a chat with people I'd go and stand away from where people are parking.

No....nothing to do with being fit. Why should young children have to walk 50 meters through a car park just to accommodate your selfish need to have space around your dog which was not safely on a lead. That parent is entitled to and right to park close to the entrance to keep their children sate by avoiding a journey through a car park. FFS you sound madder with each comment you add!

So many guesses from OP on why he might pick a parking space.

Easy op keep your dogs on leads under control in a car park. Its not as hard as you think.

It's also not necessarily about fitness. Some DC are fit as fiddles but still have additional needs which make safety in car parks more difficult, that's just fact. These people are not always identifiable from looking at them for a minute.

Unbelievable! This has to be an early contender for 'Most Obvious YABU Of 2026'. This sort of mentalness gives reasonable dog owners a bad name.

Perfectly reasonable.

Unreasonable to stand chatting with dogs off leads in a car park.

Oh yes, I agree with you. I didn't mean he should've apologised. I meant that in my case, the woman I told off (who was driving dangerously and made me fearful) accepted it, said sorry, and there was no swearing or anger.

It's sad you dog is getting older, but you still need to be in control of him, and banging on a car rood because 'you' dont approve of the space he parked in, is unreasonable behaviour. 96% of posters also say that you are unreasonable.

YABU
I am a dog person but I don’t have one at the moment, I go to a lot of places to walk and I find it really annoying if people are chatting in the car park whilst there dogs are wondering around off lead. If you want to chat put the dogs in the car first or at least put them in the lead. Most parks have a rule that all dongs need to be on leads? It’s a car park, not a place for dogs to sniff around whist you chat to a mate. The driver had a right to park wherever he wants.

You are ranting about 'entitlement' but think you should decide where another driver parks because you want to allow your elderly dog to wander freely around the car park.

Your dogs were either under control, and therefore safe, or they weren't, which would be your fault, so I can't see how in any instance this is the driver's fault

Why on earth would you have 2 elderly dogs off the lead in a car park whilst you gab to your pal? Get in the park or in your car. Don't loiter in car parks. You had no business telling him where to park or smacking his car. Telling him to fuck off is outrageous. He's perfectly within his rights to park in a free space in a car park.

No. He shouldn't.

No-one ever died from car driving 2 feet away from them. He didn't head directly for your dog.

Why is a dog jumping into the front footwell?

Yep, we don't understand how owning a dog makes some owners think they have a God given right over every public space and everyone else needs to be the ones to modify their behaviour to accommodate your off-lead pooch and put up with being on the receiving end of verbal abuse into the bargain.

Got to say this post is bringing out more trolls than an Icelandic saga...

You were unreasonable, but an empty car park, that annoys me.

I can almost guarantee that in an empty car park, someone will park next to me.
Sometimes I haven’t even left the car, in which case, I reverse out, while they are in their car and park a small distance away.

The other day someone parked so close to me, that I had to get in the passenger seat and climb over. They were in the supermarket. Many many spaces around.

There was a tiny space between their passenger door and my driver door, I couldn’t possibly have got in, I don’t think a child could have got in.

But yes OP, your dogs should be on leads, but people should drive and park more considerately, and you are right, smaller dogs might not be seen, even if on leads, by people reversing.

Bluntly, if your dog can't hear cars approaching then that's all the more reason to have her on a lead in a car park.

"I'm getting flack" you literally posted an AIBU and you are annoyed that people are giving you their opinions. The more I read of your responses the more unreasonable I see you are. I cannot believe you slapped his car, told him to fuck off and now you're calling him a cunt! A total stranger who was just parking so his kids could go to the park. Is it because he had real babies and nor fur-babies that you are so bitter? Or what do you call children - skin dogs, is it? Edited for typos.

This has to be a wind up. Yabu and tbh vvvv strange. An empty car parking space and the driver backed into it. You choose to hit and potentially damage his car on purpose. I hope he made a police report about your aggressive behaviour.

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