daggett, I have 14 cats and 3 dogs, two of whom are herders. Pippin is an Aussie with moderate herding drive, and Tasha is presumably an Aussie mix with VERY intense herding drive. All of my cats have lived with dogs for as long as the cats have been members of my family. Even so, they are wisely nervous and cautious around dogs they don't know. When we adopted Pippin as a newly neutered young adult, he came from an Aussie rescue where he had been fostered with a cat or two. I was told he was curious about the cat but not at all pushy, so I thought he'd make a great fit for our family. When he arrived, he was, indeed, curious about the household cats and spent some time trying to follow them around until they hissed and backed him off. He took their reprimands well and left them alone. The next day, Pip and the other dogs came out to the barn with me for morning chores. The eldest cat, Billy, had gone out earlier to start his daily farm sentry duties. As soon as Pippin caught sight of Billy, he took off after him with bloodlust in his eyes. This was no playful romp. This was a hungry wolf after a rabbit. I screamed at Pip and ran after him, but he could not be called off. He was after a kill, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. He didn't know me yet and hadn't accepted me as his pack leader. He also didn't know Bill and hadn't identified him as part of his new family pack. Gratefully, Billy escaped into the hayshed before Pip caught up with him, and I eventually caught up with Pip and dragged him back to the house, screaming at him along the way. If I hadn't had Pip flown up to me in MN from TX, I would have returned him to the rescue that day. Because that wasn't an immediately available option, I decided on a different tactic. I purchased a muzzle and put it (and a leash) on Pip when he came outside with me. He continued to be fine with the cats indoors, but it took about a month before I trusted him outdoors without the muzzle. With Pip, the key was to give him time to identify and integrate into his new family pack and to understand and accept the pack order. Over the course of a month, he realized that all of the cats were part of his new pack, and he never chased one of them again, inside or out. In fact, Pip is submissive to all the cats (he's a submissive personality, anyway). It wasn't until I got Pip into basic obedience classes, however, that he fully accepted me as his alpha pack leader. Tasha was and is a different matter altogether. We adopted her as a tiny puppy, so she was raised in a household full of cats. Even so, she has always been much more problematic for the cats than has Pippin. Tasha is MUCH more intensely driven than is Pip, and she's also a very pushy alpha personality. Everything in her universe BELONGS to Tasha, is DOMINATED by Tasha, and REVOLVES around Tasha ... everything except me, that is. She knows and accepts that I am her alpha leader, but everything and everyone else breathes her air at her pleasure and mercy. With Tasha, it is obvious that herding drive is an extension of prey drive. The intensity of her herding behavior is really quite remarkable. I have no doubt, though, that she would have turned into a killer if I hadn't set very strict behavioral boundaries on her and if I didn't continue to enforce them on a daily basis. I am still constantly having to tell her to leave the cats alone. She simply wants to dictate every move every animal (or toy) makes in her world. Unfortunately because of her cruciate problems, I can not allow her to exercise as much or as vigorously as her mind requires, so keeping her behavior within controllable limits is a constant challenge. As I noted in my earlier response, herders are amazing dogs, but they are NOT easy! Now back to your dog. You made a MAJOR mistake by ever allowing your dog to chase your cats. Not only has the dog been rewarded for his bad behavior by achieving the desired effect of "herding" the cats, but the cats have now learned that you can not or will not protect them from the dog. They have lost trust in you and in the safety of their own home. They are trapped with the enemy - an enemy that they are very much aware can and may want to kill them. Of course they're hiding. Every instinct they have tells them they must hide for their self-preservation. They have no experience living with passive dogs, so all they have to respond to are their own instincts. As I mentioned earlier, you must keep your dog either leashed or locked securely away from the cats at all times until and unless your cats adjust to his presence and give you the opportunity to train him properly. Do NOT in ANY way try to force your cats out of hiding or into the presence of the dog. They must be allowed to make peace with his presence in their own time and way ... if it's going to happen at all. Most likely, they will start coming out under cover of darkness, late at night after everyone has gone to bed, the dog is securely crated, and all is quiet. Once they start reaffirming their safety under those conditions, they will probably slowly start to appear during daylight hours. If you do NOT allow the dog to approach them or intimidate them in any way, your cats will eventually get braver. It may take months or years, but if you assure their safety and work to regain their trust away from the dog, they will probably eventually come out of hiding again. You can help your cats by spending lots of time alone with them in whichever room they are hiding, trying to coax them out of hiding just to enjoy some petting, playing, and treats. Like I said, they have lost trust in you, and you're going to have to work to regain it. Let them know that they still matter and that they can safely spend time with you without risking interaction with the dog. Unfortunately, you won't be able to teach your dog to accept the cats as part of his new family pack until and unless the cats come out of hiding and start reintegrating themselves into the household. It's a waiting game now. Make it impossible for the dog to get anywhere near the cats on his own, and give the cats the supportive loving they need to feel safe again. Hopefully in time the cats will give you a second chance to be their protector in the presence of the dog. Good luck, Laurie

Jackson is now two and just fine. As I stated last year, he ate the all the tips out of all my sprouting hosta. He had no symptoms. In most cases, dogs are smarter than to eat something toxic. The same dog that ate the hosta pips loves coffee. My late spouse told me that coffee was toxic to dogs and not to let him have anymore. I looked it up, and yes, coffee can be toxic to dogs. It would take 10 cups of coffee to make him sick, since he weighs about 20 pounds. Relax, she would probably have to eat 10 pounds of it to make her the least bit sick. She didn't eat it, she just touched it with her teeth. As I mentioned in an earlier post, Cleo gave a bunch of hosta the "death shake". She's now eight years old and just fine. She never had any symptoms, although I would have liked to have given her some symptoms at the moment I found them. A lot of people just love to pass on some tidbit of alarming information, but don't look into it before hitting that "submit" button. bkay

It is supposed to be on Sunday and there are lots of petitions out there to stop it. They are still taking signatures and asking people to send emails to various officials. I am posting one of the signature links with a facebook page, but there are lots more out there if you google. It's not just the fact that they eat cats and dogs because obviously, Western cultures eat animals too. It's just the way these poor cats and dogs are viciously and brutally tormented and tortured to death that is absolutely unacceptable and beyond disgusting and has to be stopped. Even many Chinese are horrified by this brutality. So for all of us who love critters, please, let's see what we can do to help stop this. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Yulin-Dog-Cat-Meat-Festival-2015-%E5%81%9C%E6%AD%A2%E6%A6%86%E6%9E%97%E7%8B%97%E8%88%87%E8%B2%93%E8%82%89%E7%AF%802015/707295279337186

That is not true In LA. It's very cumbersome to surrender your pet to a shelter and there's a fee as well. Owners are informed that if their pet is not adopted within five days, they will probably be euthanized and must sign an acknowledgment. Therefore, a lot of owners will bring their pet in as a stray to avoid these requirements. If a stray has ID, the owner is notified and has a time limit to claim the animal. If unclaimed, the animal can be adopted or euthanized. It's also difficult to relinquish an unwanted pet to rescue groups as they usually only take animals from high kill shelters that are in immediate danger of being euthanized. We adopted our first dog, Riley from a kill shelter. Her previous owners did not claim her and we found her on the fifth day after their deadline expired. She would have been euthanized the following day so it was very fortunate that the stars aligned for us.