I dont think they could ever be trained to live peacefully with cats. I can get her to live semi-peacefully with the other dogs, but anything smaller then her, its food. Trust me. Unless if you would like me to keep her on a 1 foot leash, with a choke chain and muzzle so she could live inside?
As for the 6 dead cats, Aurora got loose one day, and headed straight for the neighbors house. Cat after cat, grabed it, snapped its neck, flung it, and moved to the next one. A very horrible thing to experiance. I do not wish to have that happen again.
As for the cat boxes, we really dont have anyway of making it no dog access. Cant put it up high, they can jump up there, and we have a cat that wont jump up anything higher then 2 feet. Dont have a spare space big enough for the 4 boxes.
As for the dog hair, that is really, quite minor. Its more of my moms problem then mine. I dont mind the dog hair, she does. I'm use to breathing it, eating it, having it constantly on me, getting it my eyes, heck, I probably have it in places I dont even know about.
I know some dog breeds like huskies a lot of times very much love being outside, and I understand the need for working dogs, sledding dogs etc, as long as the facilities are effecient
Then whats really the problem? The dogs are provided with a excellent house, food 2x a day, water, more exersize then you can imagine, and lots of love and care. They all recieve the best vet care possible, since I keep them outside, I'm under extra stress to make sure everyone is happy and heathy. You have no idea how much pressure I put myself to make sure everyone stays in 100% perfect health. You might not understand it, but it works for me.