Nigredo barked...

Today on a walk with Nigredo and Jade early this morning, I saw our local weirdo/crackhead/retarded guy. He sits on the curb and mumbles things to himself. He'll also sometimes get up and follow anybody who goes by. He's asked me strange questions before such as:

"Have you heard from your sisters?" (Have no sisters)
"Did you get that phone line fixed?" (HUH??)
"When were you going to wake up pancake?" (WHAT??)

Either way they never make any sense and I think he's mental or something, but I truly have no idea. So today he got a glimpse of me and even though I turned around, he began to follow me, shouting out random things (as always) and asking me questions I cannot possibly answer.

I don't think he's harmful and he's been here for years, he's just purely annoying and I don't want him asking me things etc. because the questions don't make sense anyway. Jade has seen him many, many times and is not a barker anyway, so she's just walking along.

But this was the first time Nigredo had seen this odd fellow. He saw the man following us and he turned and all the hackles raised up on his back and he barked. I had to call him/drag him but he kept barking and barking and barking... aggressive barks too. Jade turned and looked and kept a close eye on the situation... but he was a mess pot!

Nigredo sees many of my neighbors and has let many of them pet him and everything, but this guy he HATED. Never sensed even the slightest bit of aggression/protectiveness from him before. He's played with tons of children and does great with everyone he's met. I don't think it's cause for concern... but it was a bit surprising.

Were you feeling anxious or uncomfortable yourself while passing this man?

I have noticed that my normally very friendly little dog's behaviour changes if I'm feeling anxious or very stressed on a walk.
Usually she just stiffens up a bit and her expression changes, I don't know how to describe it.
Whether she would show actual aggression or not I don't know but she definitely responds to how I'm feeling.

Dogs are so amazing at reading our body language.I'm no expert but it sounds to me that your dog could sense your unease around this guy and stepped in to protect.

Yes your dog probably picked up on your 'dislike' of this guy. My GSD was very good at doing that if anyone I didn't like much was approaching us!

Yes, he's very weird and annoying!