Nichole, I am sorry you are having to live next to two "new" neighbors that seem to be a real PITA. Don't talk to any of them. Ever. If you must watch them, watch them from inside your home, but don't make it obvious. Even if they attempt to speak at you, pretend they don't exsist. Until you can move to a safer area, you must follow these rules. Don't walk anywhere, especailly alone. WHen you get a ride home, go right into the house. Don't EVER let anyone in your house. Tell your mom and aunt to watch your cousins at the door, so they don't open it for anyone. Keep the front door locked with a dead bolt ALWAYS. Keep your key close. Tell your aunt to have her ex hubby come and visit his children at the house, in daylight so all can see, in his patrol car and uniform. VERY important you do this. Let all your neighbors see him stop by and come in your house, at different times. Tell your aunt this, she will know why. Tell your mom you want mace for your protection, and carry it in your jean pockets. Don't tell anyone about it, ever. Not even your best friend at school. If you have metal detectors at school, don't take it to school, only use it on the weekends in your jeans pocket. I know your aunt doesn't want a gun, and a dog is alot of work to take care of, so I guess the mace, and a little street smarts is all you can do. Never talk to the nutty woman or her husband next door, ever. Pretend she is a tree, would you talk to a tree? Good luck honey. I hope your mom and aunt get the oppurtunity to move for your sake and the cousins sake. In the meantime, you have to watch your back.

Make friends with your garbage service crew - trust me, it works! Talk to them when they come by, help them when you have more than usual. TIP them when you have something they aren't required to take. Our service is so limited when it comes to heavy trash. I was so tired of having to pay for a junk man to haul away big stuff or unacceptable stuff. Once my crew learned that I was good friends with their "favorite neighbor", I got more attention. Afterwards, I maintained that friendly relationship. Recently, I had a huge swimming pool heater at the curb one day. Was hoping someone would pick it up for recycling $$ but no one did. My service pulled up, waved to me and started to ATTEMPT to lift that heavy thing into the garbage truck. I was so excited, I tipped the 2 workers and the driver $10.00 each. Was cheaper and easier than a minimum junk man load. I didn't need to tip them though as I was now on the "favorite neighbor" status. Another one of my neighbors made the "favorite neighbor status" by calling in a very favorable comment report about our crew. One of the garbage men told that neighbor that in the seven years of working there, NO ONE had ever given him a single positive comment - only negative. He was THRILLED. Luckily the company acknowledged him. That neighbor can put darn near anything he wants out and they will pick it up :)

I contacted several places---Humane Society/college with a vet tech program and an adoption service/local shelters to see if I could actually bring Max for a meeting. Since Max(not the first guard dog I have owned/trained) is not neutered---all of those agencies would NOT even consider any such thing. Molly( as any other dog I own) was neutered within a week of her inclusion to our family. Finally, a city shelter in a neighboring city agreed to my request. We took Max to the shelter, and as he exited the van, his hackles came up, he began to crowl, went into the stalk mode and began looking for prey---he could hear dogs, but not see them. I took him for a short walk---to calm him and that is part of his training to negate the aggressiveness out of the yard. He calmed down and in we went. The staff came to greet us and immediately picked up on his mood. I told them to just ignore him until he relaxed---which took about five minutes. At which point, anyone could---and did---pet him. We then selected three females for his reaction, and actually brought them, one by one, into the same room----keeping a distance of about 20 feet. Number one was a black lab who was a real sweetheart---so eager to please it was heart wrenching. His reaction---nothing. At all---no reaction at all. The second girl got a growl before she got completely through the door. Molly was filthy, covered in urine since she cowered in the back corner in her own excretement, scared so bad she was locked up---would not walk, had to be literally drug across the floor. Gotb through the door and Max's tail began to wag. Not much more reaction than that. I had sort of rescued Max from the family who had him before---he was so Alpha, they could not control him and the city police were processing a Dangerous Animal warrent against them. So I had admired him and saw the potential---from a safe distance and took him. We had a very uneasy relationship until I convinced him I was more Alpha than he. In doing so, I never touched him for correction, never yelled, never even spoke other than a negative grunt and body language correction. Backing him into his room, and towering over him until he relaxed. So, from working with him for the four years prior to his meeting Molly, I knew a lot about his reactions and actions. I was shocked---and thet is not something that happens to me often. The staffer was watching me and asked, "You ok?" I remember saying, "This is a Cesar moment!" She looked confused and I pointed at Max, whose tail was still wagging slowly---20 feet away. She said, "I guess that is a good sign." I nodded, "He likes her. That is what I was hoping would happen---he would like one." I would not have picked Molly to rescue. Too many issues---most severe being the total lack of self confidence and abject fear of almost everything. Working with a dog so aggressive that he was dangerous was apple pie easy compared to rehabilitating Molly. Her progress is more than i expected just 10 months later---partially to our willingness to adapt our daily life to include many of her needs and some due to Max. I do have to kennel her when we are gone for more than an hour, and during the night. She is a young energetic dog and needs lots of exercise(whippet mix) and I am 62 and have trouble walking any distance. But, turns out she loves to chase soccer balls---so I kick them from one side of the yard to the other several times a day, which gives her the opportunity to reach full speed running. And Max sometimes looks oddly at me when I talk to her, since he gets spoken to like I would speak to an employee---and I need to pump her up daily. But, he really likes her, tolerating much more than I ever imagined. Sometimes reminds me of a wildlife film i once saw about the way lion cubs torment the pride leader.

Yes, I do. I love ours, but I was already a fan. When DH was stationed on Okinawa we bought some great stereo equipment and some Bose speakers which lasted about 20 years lol. We've had our BWMS about 5 years or so and to tell the truth it has better sound in a much smaller package. I like the fact that all the "sound around" comes at you from the two small speakers. If you really want to check it out see if you can find the movie "Top Gun" and have them play the first bit. If you can hear the music and the jet engines sweep around from one speaker to the other you know you've got a good system.