I've always said that if we were ever threatened on a walk, Ami would be between my legs cowering.  Well, I'm not sure but last night, while taking Ami for one last pee, a man showed up at the corner, in the shadows, looking a bit unstable on his feet.  I vaguely noticed him at first but was going to continue...then Ami whipped his head up from sniffing, turned around, stood very much at attention, stiff,  then something he has never done in the 2 years we have had him - he gave a low, sharp, growling sort of sharp bark.

I decided to head to the motel office, we then met a couple walking the other way and he was his usual more than friendly, tail wagging, ears back happy self to meet them...

The man that sent our shackles up had sort of closed in on us, asked if Ami was friendly (he was about 25' away) - I said "yes"...Wayne said I should have said "no".  But I don't want some jackass shooting my dog if it should ever come to that...

Am I foolish for having been so worried...

Not foolish. People are weird. Ami knew something was off with the person and it made him nervous. I too would have said no rather than yes if the guy had asked. Not so much on the fear the guy might shoot him but more on the line of thinking that if Ami is this bothered by the presentation of the man then he might be nervous enough to bite. Some dogs are bothered by strange movements that they don't see often and/or don't understand and they will perk for no reason. I had a dog that was scared to death of people with a limp. she had never been around anyone with one and knew there was something not right about a person with a limp. She wasn't to be trusted.

I would have said no. But then again neither am I lol. It sounds like quite an ordeal. I don't think it was foolish. Strange dudes are scary. Ami probably picked up on your nervousness. They can be pretty sharp.

or be vague and say depends on the day and the person. i would trust his behavior towards the man and go the other direction like you had.

Avalanche has never met a human that he didn't like - forget that! Sasha is reserved with almost everyone - forget that!

I once had a lab who I had never heard bark in warning; play - yes, warning, not even close. At the time I was living in an apartment complex that backed some "woods" where the kids would party at night and sometimes during the day. If they were out there, Lady would sniff and ignore them unless one came over to pet the pretty dog. Then one day there was an older man out there - he was picking up the kids trash aluminum cans - and for some reason Lady went on alert, got between me and him and with hackles fully up, just stood there. He started walking toward us and she let out a bark like I'd never heard from her. He had a few choice words about dogs and backed off.
Some people just give off vibes that the dogs sense and when I have a dog who's uncomfortable with a human, I tend to respect their opinion. In your case, I'd have said that Ami wasn't friendly, left it at that and left.

Yup...probably should have held on to his collar and said "No". Let people think my marshmallow is a hungry wolf...

I probably would have been vague grabbed collar and said well with most people