I guess my main problem with what you've been saying is the implication, several times, that you think it isn't your problem if someone happens to be afraid of your dog. I think the reality that many people will always be afraid of your dog (and mine, when he still was alive) regardless of why or whether it's justified, must alter how you act. If someone's afraid of your dog, it doesn't matter that you know he's a sweetie and doesn't jump, they don't know that. And when someone with a "big, scary dog" drives someone else off a public sidewalk because they don't know if you're one of the responsible owners or not and because you're placing your comfort over someone else's fears, it does a disservice to all dogs and dog owners, because in that person's mind their opinion of many dog owners as arrogant and dangerous is now justified. And it happens over and over again.