Here's a little story.
I was doing my paper round this morning. So, I put the thing in the mailbox, turn around, and get jumped by some overly excited dog. Now, dogs scare the shit out of me, and I didn't see this one coming, so my reaction was, "JESUS CHRIST!" The dog's owner then angrily said, "Oi, he just wants to play," to which I replied, "Well I don't." Then the guy came over and said, "Don't get all aggressive, do you want me to beat you up?!"
My reaction was, "No, never mind," not in a sarcastic tone but more like 'I don't want to fight, have it your way'. After that we just glared at each other for a few seconds and then he walked away. What would you have done? Fight or back down?
Fight. Verbally.
Considering he was already coming at me with his fist raised, I don't think provoking him any further would've ended well; 'well' here being 'not actively hitting each other'.
Thing is, if he'd come at me yesterday, when I was incredibly pissed because everything was going wrong, I might have chosen to fight him.
I do think I could have taken him, but his dog would have probably come after me, and even though it wasn't a shepherd or rottweiler, it was still a decent-sized dog that could have done some real damage.
In the end, I think we both got lucky here.
I'd have explained to the man that I had a phobia of dogs, apologised if he'd thought I'd been agressive towards his dog; it wasn't my intention, and then asked if he could keep the dog somewhere where it wouldn't jump me in the future (just at the post time, mind). He'd have probably been sympathetic, although he'd have thought me a wimp. The mistake was the 'well, I don't'; it showed that you weren't apologetic for what he perceived as bad treatment of his pet.
That, and people always forget that fear and anger go hand in hand, so he probably thought you were just a mean guy instead of a scared guy.
Of course, that's all if I was ACTUALLY in your shoes. As it is, I don't have a phobia of dogs, and would have laughed after the initial shock and, 'JESUS CHRIST!' instead, because I always respond to shock with laughter. It's quite a useful reflex, that. But there we are.
My own response would have been to ruffle the dog's ears. But in your case you maybe should have explained your phobia.
In that situation I would have run away as fast as I could... then again probably not a good idea, as the dog would most likely give chase. Might be a sight to see but would be utterly unpleasant.
In actuality, I probably would have jumped, and then laughed nervously whilst apologising if I came across as rude...then I'd proceed to walk away as quick as possible without appearing to be in be rude.
Agree with Ellipsis on the whole, but in your own situation, I would have been all like: You can try to beat me up if you want but then, who will be the mst agressive? I didn't try to hurt your dog, did I? (I get into messy situations because I can't shut up when scared.)
Still, it's weird to have to apologize because you seemed rude or whatever - you don't let your dog going around and jump on people or whatever. And you don't threaten people, damn!
personally I would've just laid the smackdown on him
Oh, I agree that the man in question was an inconsiderate prat. At the same time, that's not the dog's fault, and life's much easier if people you don't like don't mind you. Except for lulz on the internet. If you take a civil tack, you usually get an apology (or a lack of ill-will, at least) in response, and you end up with an advantageous scenario. The worst thing you can do is be agressive at first and then shrink into cowardice- you look pathetic. People are easy to read and manipulate; do it.
Well, I ran into the guy again today, basically same scenario as last time, although this time the dog didn't jump me, it simply brushed past me. This time I followed people's advice here and told the guy I'm afraid of dogs, and indeed, no hostility at all this time. So, thanks for the advice, I really think it kept me out of trouble this time. :)
In that case, backing down was the best option, otherwise the dog might have joined in which would not have been good. Also, depending on the neighborhood, someone might call the police, once again, never good.