I hesitate to call it "aggression", but Kairo treats cats like play things (tried to grab Anya out of my arms - not hard enough to hurt her, but with the motion like she was about to play tug). She is also a huge cat chaser and just this morning about took my arms of after one I didn't see in a bush.

However, if we are running, she doesn't so much as notice them in the path.

Ember was the same way, and I have the system I used to work with her in mind. To date, I can call her off mid-hot-pursuit on a cat without fail, whereas a few months ago I almost lost her to yanking the leash out of my hand. Thankfully she came back after her mission was complete.

Kairo has grown up around multiple cats, and has one at home that looks a lot like Anya named Sly. DJ has always wanted them to coexist and is considering giving up Sly so they both can have a better life - right now each has to be locked up while people are away, and even when they are home, the house is segregated. DJ wants Sly to have run of the house and for Kairo to be able to sleep in his bed with him at night.

Here is my plan - but I don't know if this will work as well for Kairo. Looking for advice.

Skill #1: Strong "Leave It"
Plan: Work with treats/toys to establish a strong "leave it" indoors. Slowly work to outdoors, and start to incorporate into walks on various objects.

Skill #2: Come When Called (outdoors)
I'm finding this one trickier, as Kairo loses focus on me the moment we step outside. However, I'm also finding that that focus has improved drastically just by the anti-tugging exercises we've been working on. So...

Plan: Start working on attention with distractions, including other dogs (which can elicit the same reaction as a cat darting off at times). Start working on "Come" on a long line. Once established, start working on "Leave It - Come" as one fluid motion - Leave It = Come, or "Come Away".

Progress Reports
Plan: Testing Kairo on leash, indoors, with Anya in various places. This obviously will not happen until the first skill seems to be incredibly solid.

Your working on the skill-set is going to be beneficial whether she ever reaches a point of being able to co-exist with a cat or not - so definitely keep going with that.  (( That'll be a nice surprise for your brother when he gets home! ))

I have three dogs here (along with two kittens) and have three different reactions to cats.

• Sasha - openly seeks out the cats, is not threatening and seems to enjoy having them around.  I've seen her and a previous cat literally curled around each other sleeping.  She'll chase the cat if it runs, but if the cat stops, so will she.  I've seen her chase the cat out into the brush and then they'll both set 'watching the sunset'' (stupid dog!)
  
• Avalanche - wants to play, but is so big, compared to the kittens, that he frightens them.  Even in play though, he's gentle enough that he doesn't hurt them.
  
• Sky - is not in the least bothered by the kittens, doesn't want to chase. She simply ignores them.
  

My cats do have a safe area that the dogs can't get into - though Sky and Avalanche - could easily jump the gate if they were so inclined, they've never indicated that they want to invade the cats territory.

Personal experience, so definitely ÏMHO; the animals do best if they're allowed to introduce themselves.  Obviously the cat requires a place that is safe for them and one they can reach quickly if they feel threatened.  And with my menagerie all a cat has to do is raise a paw and all my dogs back off - quickly!  That said, if a cat has been declawed, as so many cat owners seem to think they need to do, then all bets are off - they've removed the only real defense a cat has against a dog.

One thing that some people have found is that "my cat" (the one living in the same house) is safe while "that cat" (one they come across on the street, for example) is not. That said since you and your brother, if I'm reading this right, both have cats Anya might be completely safe but when he returns and takes Kairo home he'll probably have to introduce Sly and Kairo.

You are mostly likely looking to break her prey drive, an instinct that goes back a long ways. If you make headway with this make sure to update. I have had a cat for a little over a year. She was a stray kitten that showed up on the front porch. Kenzi still only wants to kill her on sight. She lives in a spare bedroom and the door is only opened when the dogs are outside. The cat seems perfectly okay with the setup but it would be nice if someday she could be out with us full-time. The only suggestion I have is constantly breaking concentration on the cat. No staring and really work the leave it. Kenzi hasn't done so well "leaving" the cat like she has with leaving other dogs alone, but maybe in time.

I will keep you all informed Kairo is beginning to learn on her own that staring doesn't work. Anya isn't scared of her glaring over the baby gate anymore and goes about her own business - while I thought this would amp Kairo up, it instead has made things boring, apparently. Cat isn't running or hiding - no more hide and seek, no more reaction... Nothing to see here. So that has degraded slowly and I hope it will degrade to nothing all together.

I will take additional advice as it comes!