[vent] asked to remove service dog from mall after she barked at a man who barked and yelled as he approached us.

I was asked to remove my service dog from a mall yesterday because she barked (without lunging) at a man...after he started barking at us. And yelling. And walking towards us.My dog moved (from a heel) so her flank was across my knees while she stood at an angle between me and him and barked. Her stance (nix barking) is a trained behavior that she uses when I'm having minor seizures/losing time/bouts of vertigo/migraines/anxiety attacks. It's pretty much her catch all when something's off but we're in a public place. There's not actually anything she can do except stand guard while we go about our daily life. (Yesterday I was getting my phone fixed at the Apple Store). She is a rescue who started picking up duties/cues from my last service dog (who passed away) and I've been training her for out of home service. Everybody in my life thinks this is a mistake since she hates most people. She absolutely hates douchebags. Literally anyone who would make me do a mental eye roll is likely to get a side eye from her. 10 months ago she would likely snap at them. She's not a "new" dog but she lets people pet her and gets hugs from children and chills at Starbucks and was poor patient waiting at the Genius Bar than I was. She doesn't like it but seems to view it as her 9to5. I give her time to "get her crazy out" and try to plan outing as much around her as possible. She spent the day representing service dogs very well. And then this fucker comes along. He was walking past us in the opposite direction and started barking. When we ignored him he turned to follow us and started yelling at me. I turned around to tell him to back the fuck off and that's when my dog moved across me to take up her guard position and started barking. Tail out, ears forward, lips up, barking. Complete with slight crouch. There is no doubt in my mind that if he had continued to approach she would have done her best to tear him apart. Instead he stayed about 10 feet away screaming that he "wasn't scared of no skinny bitch" until mall security came (dog barked the whole time) and asked me to leave. I was asked to leave. Not him. She calmed down as security moved between me and him and stared at him until she couldn't see him when we were escorted out. She continued to look over her shoulder until we left the mall. Ironically, if she had gone any further to protect me most people would say she can't act as a service dog. Lots of people in my life didn't even want me to start her on service dog training despite her obvious aptitude. Fuck that. She's a good girl who did her fucking job. via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2sqk0yC