Alfie Has Fans!

I am absolutely overjoyed by how well Alfie has settled into the flat at Dexter House. I was really concerned that he wouldn't cope with living in a far smaller place, considering we had lived in a much larger, three-bedroom house with a garden, where he could go when 'needs must.' He does get excited when it's time to go out for a walk (he has always done this, barking and generally making a lot of noise when he has his lead put on, for example.) He has met many of the other residents and they seem to love him. Well, he does have a sort of magnetic personality, loving being the centre of attention and all the fuss he gets. We are constantly meeting other dog-walkers, particularly in Oldbrook Green, the rather pleasant open space which is a short walk from the flat. We seem to meet the same people with their dogs, which means we have a sort of ready-made set of regulars. Although most of pleasant, there are one or two who aren't quite so friendly. The other day we came across this young man who had two dogs on leads and which had muzzles on. I think they were Staffordshire terriers, by their size and shape. Is it me, or are a 'certain element' under the impression that such dogs give them a sort of 'hard' edge? I'm thinking mostly, male, sporty types, of a 'certain age,' (probably between 18-35), with a sort of swagger. (I'm building up my character description for an archetype here, but never mind. Probably a character from the BBC1 soap, 'EastEnders. Probably based loosely on one of the Mitchell brothers.) Anyway, we had walked round the park once and had encountered this individual and then, on the second encounter, he saw Alfie, who, by the way was behaving impeccably, and when this individual saw him, he said, 'if he (meaning Alfie) snaps at my dogs, I'll  take their muzzles off!' What was the reason for this? Alfie wouldn't hurt a fly! He's well behaved and would never bite anyone, and certainly not get into a fight with another dog. He always wants to be friends with the dogs he meets, even though he can be a bit 'in your face' with his barking and running around. I suppose it's just that he gets over-excited. This 'individual' was being unnecessarily aggressive (or I suppose he thought he was.) and somewhat threatening (in a rather pathetic manner, so I thought.) He was using his dogs as a sort of protection for his no doubt, fragile masculinity. Somewhat sad and pathetic generally. Why threaten a harmless little Yorkie with aggression and threats in the first place?