>"oh they got a dog y'all..."

[Disclaimer: I would never encourage ANYONE to feign that their pet could be aggressive, cause no matter the situation, in most, the dog will be held at fault in the end]

It isn't uncommon for people from different communities to associate dogs with guard/attack dogs. Many friends and acquaintances that grew up rough or in underserved areas are wary of any dog cause most pets in their neighborhoods were used as defense weapons.