message to a madman...

so i was walking the dogs in my little bog today. rio was on leash and blossom off leash. i know, legally, both dogs should be on leash. however anchorage does have a training clause and since i use blossoms chuck it to work on off leash training, i figure it works. not that i don't have sympathy for those who don't like dogs off leash. i too get frustrated when an off leash dog attacks my dogs or chases a moose in my direction. i also don't want to be the sort that says the law only applies to others and not to my perfect dogs. i know my dogs aren't perfect.
today, though, all seemed just fine. a guy with a large stick was jogging towards me. i got both dogs off trail so he could easily pass by. the guy said, "thanks" and jogged on. not too long after this i was on a snow covered bridge and now this same jogger is coming back from behind me. not sure why he changed directions, but i moved across the bridge and pulled both dogs off trail so he could pass by. no exchange. i kept walking. not too long after this, this same jogger comes again back in my direction and i pull off trail yet again with my dogs so he can pass. instead of passing the man starts yelling at me about leash laws. the guy was literally foaming at the mouth. spit was all over the place he was so angry. i have no idea where it came from or why he chose this 3rd encounter to go off on me. he screamed that he is terrified of big dogs and has been bitten in the past. of course, now that the dude is screaming at me the dogs are getting worked up. i must say i'm proud of how calm i remained. i just looked at the madman the first break i got and calmly said, "your yelling at me isn't helping this situation". he started yelling that he wasn't yelling and continued on with his rant. i said no more, and he finally went on. i put blossom on her leash, but suspected i would not see that man again. i think when you lose it like that and you have any conscience at all, you have to be a bit embarrassed by your over reaction. my dogs are generally very well behaved. blossom, off leash, is trained to stop at my command, drop to the ground and stay there while bikers/joggers/skiers go past. most are very impressed that a dog could be trained to do this. i'm just not used to being yelled at over my dogs. it's always upsetting to me. it's also frustrating that my dogs and i get the wrath for what other, less responsible owners have done in the past. my nap just failed as my brain was still running this over and over. i tend to ruminate on such things..being so baffled as i was. now i get to get ready for work. sometimes people suck!!!!