Oh.... Mom & Dad.... The First Teachers... a Child has.... The Special " TOGETHER" times... The "FAMILY"times.. The ONE on One Sharing and Teaching, Loving.. . and Giving, Sure is seen in this Precious Young Lady... A Little Princess for sure... A Young Lady... who with this family background is sure to grow up to be a WONDERFUL ~~ Wife, MOTHER and TEACHER herself... as she will follow in teaching her young ones.... LOVE, Kindness, Thoughtfulness, and the Blessed Gifts... are the ones that come with a bunch of thought and planning...not with the POCKET BOOK !!!!.... It is a Wonderful Thing, a Blessed Thing... when a Parent receives back from their child.... the Rewards of all the time put into training them to be thoughtful!!!!!! Thank You for sharing this special Gift and Story with ME!!! I appreciate you and your family !!!! Happy New Year 2008 !!!!! Looking forward to many more great~~~ Loving Stories from your family !!!! God Bless!!! Susie

Before making suggestions on what to replace them with, I'd want to know what's going on that's keeping them from thriving. Japanese holly is a pretty tough plant and very appropriate for full sun - if it's not happy in that situation, I'm not sure what else would be. Ditto dayliles and liriope, which usually grow in spite of the conditions or skill of the gardener! Talk to me about the irrigation - 3x a week seems excessive. If the soil was overly amended or not well draining, these may be getting to much. OTOH, automated irrigation systems that come on with that sort of frequency often are not providing enough water as they are only on for a few moments each day. Better to water less frequently - once a week is probably fine - but slowly and for an extended period. Maybe as much as 30-40 minutes at a time. You want the water to slowly percolate down through the soil profile the depth of the rootball or about 8-10". And skip any fertilizing - most plants do not require it and you never want to apply ferts when plants are stressed.

Well, having had a dog that was aggressive towards strangers, I totally disagree with some of the above posters who say it's the dog owner's fault totally. I spent hundred's of dollars on trainers, behaviorists, rescue remedy etc. My dog had a screw loose. He was wonderful with our family and my young children. He just didn't see any reason for anyone else to come into our yard or house. It was very stressful having Kobe because I had to know where he was at all times. He had to be crated, or on his leash if I knew someone was coming over. He finally bit my neighbor - not a terrible bite, but enough to break the skin. I called up the breeder where I had gotten him and explained I couldn't keep him. She told me, "His daddy was always difficult around strangers too." I was like - who breeds a dog with a bad temperament? Anyways, she took him back, they live out in the country on a farm and since he was so well trained, they kept him in their house as a pet. I agree 100% that your neighbor needs to take action and probably have the dog put down. That was what I was going to do if the breeder wouldn't take him back. My dog's main problem was he was extremely fearful of people, and when he felt threatened, he became aggressive. He wasn't a mean dog, just saw things as threatening when they weren't at all. I cried more tears over this dog - he loved us all to death, and I loved him too. He just couldn't handle living in suburbia. I couldn't give him up to someone who didn't understand him because I was afraid they'd become violent with him when he lunged at people etc. Amazingly enough, he did well back on the farm where they didn't want any strangers just walking up their road or coming to their house. I also have to say, the comments about electric fences are just silly. Electric fences are for keeping your dog in your yard when they go out to pee, or to let them run around untethered. They are not designed to have a dog stay outside 24x7. Any dog who cannot be trained to stay within an electric fence has other training issues. My crazy dog Kobe was excellent in his fence. He just didn't like it when anyone came inside HIS fence. My current dog's collar just hangs like a necklace - he wouldn't even get shocked if he went through. He knows his boundries and when he hears the clicking warning sounds, he knows he can go no farther. I do agree that they do not protect your dog from other dogs or predators - but that's why I would never leave my dog outside for long periods of time or without checking on him. Many people can't have a fence due to trees around their property line or the sheer size of their yard. The electric fence is a great tool to allow your dog running room without them having to be on a leash.

As everyone knows, beagles make excellent watch dogs and really horrible guard dogs. A man and his 3 or 4 year old son were walking by down our alley. My beagle started braying and spiking up because they had stopped to look at her. We went out and the man was laughing at her, and so was the kid. He asked his kid if he wanted to see the puppy and picked the kid up. Well as soon as the kid was up higher and she could see him better, she bolted. She was terrified. Came to stand behind my legs and bark and shake with her tail between her legs. The man and his son left, and I'll be darned if she didn't spend the rest of the night trying to 'track' the man and his son. She kept going back to the spot where they stood, sniffing the fence and following it all the way to where it meets the neighbors fence, over and over. I can't help but laugh at her, cause I know if she ever finds anything she's been trying to track, she'll tuck her tail and run the other way. She'd be the worst hunting beagle ever, I think. But she tries to do her job, thats for sure.