HELP! I can not calm down!

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I needed to do all of my laundry at once and my apartment only has one washer and dryer in my building, so I decided to go to a local laundromat. My sister and I brought our two service dogs with us and we started to wash the laundry. We had just put the laundry in the dryer and sat down to wait. Our dogs were laying down and very calmly watching passersby. They had all of their IDs and gear on, so people could tell that they were service dogs.

Then, a man started to enter the laundromat and stopped. He asked if we had (control over) our dogs. At first, I assumed that he meant we were blocking his way. But as I slowly slid my service dog closer to me and out of the aisle, he continued to say that he would shoot them! He said it very calmly and I assumed that he meant only if they started to attack him for some reason.

The idea that my dog or any service dog would attack a person is absurd, so I did not think that there was any danger. But after a while, I noticed I was crying and starting to shake. When I did not stop, I asked my sister to take me home and finish the laundry without me. I am home now, but I still can not stop crying and shaking.

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31st of July, 2013
Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Auditory-Verbal Processing Speed Disorder, and Visual-Motor Processing Speed Disorder.

Weak Emerging Social Communicator (The Social Thinking-­Social Communication Profile by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal)

"I am silently correcting your grammar."

If anyone threatens you or your pets or your property, the "proper" thing to do is call the police to deal with them. But of course then you would have to deal with explaining it to the police and that may be traumatic for you as well. I would have still called the police because his threat of shooting the dogs implies that he is carrying a gun to do it with, and that would send him to jail (directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200).

Wow, what a dick Most people out there aren't like that, I wonder what caused him to say such a thing.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. To help wrap your head around the man's behavior towards your dog: the man may have been attacked by a large dog in the past and is exceptionally scared and wary of them-- to the point he feels he needs to shoot first ask questions later for his own safety. I'm not condoning his behavior, merely giving a possible explanation for why it is what it is. I can't for the life of me think of any reason one would want to shoot a dog other than being attacked by one at some point.

If this situation ever happens again I would suggest simply saying "It's a highly trained service dog, he/she is vital for my everyday living and will not attack unless provoked."

That being said I'm happy you are safe and home.

I'm sorry to hear of this happening; that's really stressful.

I like the suggestion to call the police if someone makes that kind of threat or comment again, and I also like the advice of saying "This is a highly trained service dog" etc.

Could you maybe even have the full version of what Aristophanes suggested printed out on a card you can carry, and show the card to anyone who gives you trouble regarding your service dog? That way you wouldn't even have to say the words, you just show them the card.

In this case, I did not realize right away that it was a hostile situation or that I felt threatened. Only when someone starts yelling, do I usually realize it. It was not until a little later, when I noticed that I was crying and trembling, that I realized that I felt threatened. By then, going up to the person after that would feel like trying to provoke them. And getting the police involved would feel like trying to escalate things. I am scared of confrontation and the thought of doing either of these, even if I am in the right, and even if other people are on my side, is terrifying.

_________________
31st of July, 2013
Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Auditory-Verbal Processing Speed Disorder, and Visual-Motor Processing Speed Disorder.

Weak Emerging Social Communicator (The Social Thinking-­Social Communication Profile by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal)

"I am silently correcting your grammar."

But I would like to thank each of you for your kind words.

_________________
31st of July, 2013
Diagnosed: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Auditory-Verbal Processing Speed Disorder, and Visual-Motor Processing Speed Disorder.

Weak Emerging Social Communicator (The Social Thinking-­Social Communication Profile by Michelle Garcia Winner, Pamela Crooke and Stephanie Madrigal)

"I am silently correcting your grammar."