Thank you guys so much for all of your excellent suggestions. I think I will definitely try the treat route because he's just a little guy who is curious about the bike and doesn't understand yet. I'm still baffled about the two adult men's behavior. My husband is out of town right now for work and when I told him about what happened, I was really, really glad he wasn't home. It amazes me that in such a tiny neighborhood that people would want to be that way. It's a little enclave of a community and there are so few of us that it would seem that we would all go out of our way to be nice to one another.

I'm ashamed to say that at a certain point in the conversation I snapped and yelled back. It wasn't my proudest moment and I really didn't know how to handle being verbally attacked by two middle aged men. It was disconcerting and hurtful. Maybe I'm a wuss?

I'm not sure how the animal control out here operates. I would hate to have to find out. Poor little puppy. I really feel for it. I actually heard the dog yelping when I pulled away. I'm assuming they made good on their "I will whip the dog's a$%" nonsense. It made me a little sick.

The reason I try to stay off the country roads here is because I live in Louisiana. The people in my area look at bicycles like people look at the bearded lady at the carnival. LOL I have seen one bike in the last three years that I have lived here.