search engine nearly failed on that common name ...

but i found this.. including the latin ... which you usually find better info using ...

ken

https://edgarjoycenursery.com/leucothoe-axillaris-rejoyce/

LOL!! I'd have to question the search engine, then :-) Dog hobble is a widely recognized common name for leucothoe and typing that into Google turns up 1.3M hits!!

Notice the reference to a particular disease on the page linked to above describing 'ReJoyce' - this could be the same problem you are having with your existing planting.

Well, I had to look it up just for the common name and it WILL NOT be in my yard.

https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/dog-hobble

Since we have a dog that eats everything, it is a no go!

tigereye, I can just about guarantee that you have at least several other plants in your garden that are toxic to dogs. But once they have passed the puppy stage, dogs rarely eat anything they shouldn't. Except maybe raspberries :-) Which my dog adores!

I have gardened my entire adult life with dogs, often more than one, and with all manner of potentially toxic plants. They have never eaten or even chewed on any plants except for the odd bit of grass now and again and the aforementioned raspberries.

Just like kids, they need the proper training and they will leave the garden and the plants in it alone.

Gardengal, not this idiot. He eats EVERYTHING! He has slacked off on the limestone rocks in the driveway. He is a rescue and must have been starved as a puppy. He ate, ATE not just chewed, rocks, sticks, berries, leaves, rabbit poop, worms, and anything and everything else that would go down his throat. He still does berries, leaves, worms, and rabbit poop. We have scoured the yard and have to stay outside on top of him every second. Nice fenced backyard and we can't leave the 12 pound idiot outside a second without an eye on him.

ETA: We haven't ever had one like this! We have had big and small dogs for years of all kinds and never one like this one. It has been three years now, and he WILL eat it!

ETA2: He is a chunky monkey now. He is NOT hungry. He does and will eat anything.

canishel, here is my L. axillaris which is the green leaved one. It grows happily by a shady stream. I would plant a thousand more if I could. It's arching branches in a mass planting create a planting that needs no maintenance. Large growths of Leucothoë can cause hunting dogs to get tangle up.

'Rejoyce' is a selection from N.J. with red new growth, sorry no experience with it.

p.s. Leucothoë was a Persian princess, who knew?

My primary concern is the water requirement. Two "ordinary" (what is the term for parent plant from which varieties come?) L. axillaris are in part shade and routinely moist soil and doing well. Two more are/were (until a tree died) in some sort of shade with variable water supply and are doing poorly. Consistent moisture is my primary concern. Hence my question about growth requirements for the Rejoyce variety.

BTW, I have three dogs who are more interested in barking at falling leaves and eating grass than in eating shrubs.

Also BTW, I used "dog hobble" in case there was some confusion about "coastal" leucothoe, "Florida" leucothoe, Agarista populifolia, etc. Around here, at least, "dog hobble" is the accepted common name.

They can tolerate varying degrees of sunlight (although I would avoid full sun) but they need consistent soil moisture. Very rarely will a cultivar (named form = ReJoyce) have different cultural requirements than the parent species (parent plant from which varieties come).