Was he carrying a gun? Because he shouldn't have been. He wouldn't shoot the dog anyway, it would bring far too much hassle down around his ears. BTW, if you really think he went too far (I don't agree with him yelling all that stuff at you), it's perfectly in order to write a complaint to the mairie of Mijanès or whichever commune it was. They are very much in favour of tourism thereabouts. The shepherd would probably be told to calm down.

Just another point about the mountains -- mountain stream water is always dodgy, it's better avoided. Which means you need to find springs. There's always one somewhere near a hut, because it's a major reason for siting the hut there. Sometimes springs are well-tramped around and possibly organized with a pipe or something, because the water's known to be good. Sometimes you just have to be patient and look around.

Regionalism, hmm. They're not powerfully regionalist, in my experience, in the Ariège. At least, you're not from a different region. I think it's more a deepening misunderstanding between the majority of the population, city and suburb dwellers, and what's left of the old rural world. In which the latter feel defensive. And I'm not even going into the bear thing... ;)