Integrating our Aussie...

Question
Hello!
Just over a week ago, we began fostering a 5-month old female Aussie that has some diminished sight. She has a lovely personality & is doing well finding her way. We have her enrolled in puppy classes & make a point to exercise her every day, as well as ensure that she has enough "chewies" to occupy her when we're not playing with her one-on-one, or when she is in her crate. She is doing very well learning "sit" & "come". Our one major challenge is trying to integrate her with our two cats (who are both male, declawed, 6 years of age, quite submissive & calm on their own). Our cats are mildly curious about her & will come & sit in the same room (at first, no way!). The cats leave our Aussie alone as long as they do not feel cornered. The problem begins when our Aussie corners one cat in particular.  When our Aussie corners him, our cat arches & begins hissing (no biting), basically telling her to get out of his face. Once the hissing & arching starts, our Aussie will then start barking & jumping around right in our cat's face & the situation just continues & escalates. Sometimes, our Aussie will just randomly chase the cat (which I assume falls under her herding nature), which inevitably ends up in the cornering situation that I described. We're not sure how best to handle this. Pulling her away seems like it would just add to the stress of the situation without really solving the problem, yet without doing so, the barking will just escalate until we intervene. In this situation, she completely ignores "come", which otherwise she is wonderful at responding too. It's then stressful for everyone! This interaction has been increasing over the last couple of days, I guess as she becomes more comfortable in the house. Are we too late in trying to address this? Do you have any suggestions? Are there any types of interactions that we can try & initiate (reward based?) to try & calm them, or is that just wishful thinking on our part? Thanks a lot for your time & your help!

Answer
Of course she ignores "Come" - she just isn't trained yet.  Continue with class, and I would even suggest getting a copy of Leslie Nelson's DVD, "Really Reliable Recall".  The lessons at www.clickerlessons.com are helpful, too.  Clicker training is really fun with Aussies because they are sooooo smart.
While you are training, make sure that your cats have a place they can escape to where the Aussie can't follow - baby gated room, for example.
Give your Aussie some mental exercise to take the place of herding - puzzle toys are great for that - www.activedogtoys.com has them.  I just got the bubble machine for my Aussie - what a hit - chicken flavored bubbles!!!!