How is this all supposed to work?

We, my girlfriend and I, have dogs. Mine is a "mixed breed" (read: mutt) and hers is an Australian Shepard. They're both fairly good dogs, esp when you consider their ages, 3 and 2 respectively. Mine loves people and gets along with other dogs when properly introduced (we go to, say, my parents house and their dogs and ours play, as well as the neighbor dog once we explain that it's ok for her to come over), he barks at strange dogs walking down the street, but I'm ok with that. Hers is afraid of most people at first, but likes other dogs.

Mine loves children, and that does cause some concren, as parents yelling at children, or worse yet, hitting them, or making them cry causes my dog to become upset. He's never attacked a parent, but he has positioned himself between a parent and child. He also "rescues" them from the pool at my parents. This can cause alarm from both child and parent as he swims out and latches on to them, gentlely, but with his mouth none-the-less and returns them to the steps. Once we explain that this is unwelcome, he'll let them be, unless they get to screaming or the like, then they get rescued again...




Hers will bark at people when first meeting them, but once he sees that we're all friends, he'll calm down. Unless some gets out a fly swatter. Fly swatters seem to be evil beyond belief and must be destroyed. That's ok, my dog like to bite and spit out flies...



The thing is, I live in a neighborhood with cats. Lots of them. Some are pets and they don't pose much of a problem. But there are lots of strays. Which would be bad enough, but my neighbor seems to encourage them. They leave food out and water as well. I'm not sure if they consider them all "their cats", but their house is always crawling with them. They don't seem to let them into the house, or tag them, license them, fix them, or provide them with veterinary care at all.

And then the problem. The cats will get into my yard (fenced backyard). My dog, or hers either for that matter, doesn't like cats. Especially tresspassing ones. I won't go into details, but suffice to say, dog vs. cat, doesn't usually favor the cat.

What to do? I don't want the cats in my yard, I'm fairly ok with that aspect, but I don't want to make my neighbor mad, or sad for that matter. I wish the cats would just learn, but every time there's a "new" batch, they come around again. I know cats aren't easily controlled, but the fact is, they are in my yard. It's not like my dog goes into others yards after cats.

I take good care of my dog, vet visits, he's fixed, gets love and attention, road trips, pay my city fees...

They do nothing with all the cats. Just put out food in bulk. The cats lay around wherever. I've got scratches on the hood of my vehicle, hair and footprints all over, they pee on everything, and poop in the flower boxes...

Geez, the more I type, the more I want to bite the cats!

I dunno, anyone got any ideas?

MV