RCMP attitude: an opportunity missed

It's 9:30 AM on a grey Tuesday in November. A 68-year old man and his dog exit the car parked on the side of the Airport Road in Campbell River. The man has glasses, a goatee, and a backpack and is wearing a baseball cap and hiking boots. The dog, a black Standard Poodle inexplicably named "Pumpkin" is wearing a bright blue collar. They're setting out on their daily walk.

As they approach the gate on the Erickson Main, the logging road behind the airport that leads to the Duncan Bay Main, the man notices a black truck with a black canopy backed right up to the "NO PARKING" sign. 
Although he knows most of the vehicles of the regular dog-walkers, he doesn't recognize this one, and wonders if maybe they'll meet a new dog. And it reminds him of an incident he witnessed last summer, when he encountered a furious person with a gate key who wanted to exit and couldn't because of another truck.
The man lets the dog off the leash as soon as they're on the logging road. The dog, nose down, heads up the road and the man follows.
When the dog turns the first corner, the man suddenly hears barking. Then, rounding the corner, he sees a furious Shepherd cross straining at the end of a short leash. This dog is accompanied by two bullet-shaped men, one of whom is holding the leash and saying something. Both men have yellow stripes down their pant legs.
The man says, "Here, Pumpkin". But Pumpkin is in dog-meeting mode, so that's the only thing in his small mind.
The policeman holding the Shepherd says, "Don't come here" and something that is drowned out by the Shepherd's fury.
So the man yells, "Pumpkin, Come!" Then starts to explain, "Sorry, he's not my dog, and sometimes he just doesn't..." But Pumpkin, now less than 50 feet from the Shepherd, has already figured out that this is not a dog he wants to meet, so he just stands. The man grabs Pumpkin's collar and puts him back on his leash.
The Shephered is still going nuts at the end of his leash as the man and his Poodle pass by on the other side of the road.
The Constable holding the dog exclaims, "You should be more careful when you see a police vehicle."
To which the man replies, "I didn't see a police vehicle."
"We're parked right in front of the gate!"
"And where does it say 'police' on that vehicle?"
As the constables and their dog round the corner, the man hears, "I suppose you wouldn't recognize a school bus either!"

Good one, Constable. And great job on the PR.