Our Aussie sheperd, Rusty, is very sweet but we still have problems with package deliveriesPeople think Rusty is very scary looking. They won't come in the gate. I don't mind. The delivery people probably wouldn't come in the gate anyway. They are trained to throw and go.
I didn't realize (or forgot) that Rusty is an Australian shepherd. So then you have experience already with a dog with this kind of personality, and you would know how to handle the Catahoula leopard dogs. That's certainly a plus. Can you go meet them with Hubby along? Then you could see how they react to both of you. Even if they originally are standoffish, they will probably warm up to you when they get to know you. Sheba, the Australian shepherd I knew very well, warmed up to me right from the start. She wasn't my dog, but we had a special relationship, and when her family went away, they brought her to my place, and she was just as happy as if it were her home. She didn't warm up to most strangers like that. I don't know what it was, but it's like Sheba was a soul mate or something.
She was at a barn where I used to ride horses when I lived in NYC. Her family wanted to get rid of her because she bit one of their small boys. I was sitting in the tack room chatting with people when this dog jumped up beside me and cuddled next to me. I was absently stoking her when someone said, be careful, the dog bites. "Not Sheba!" I said. She was absolutely friendly. They must mean some other dog here, I thought. Well, it was Sheba, and they wanted to give her away, but I had a dog and didn't want another. One of my daughter's friends was at the barn that day, and she said she wanted the dog, so we put her in the car -- she hopped right in as if she belonged -- and the teenager and her family took her. I think Sheba actually had chosen me for her new owner, but she did visit a lot, and we saw each other regularly, and she was always fond of me. She understood that the other family was hers, but my family was hers, too.
She was one of the very few dogs I've met who actually knew how to smile. She would bare her teeth, and at first, it might look menacing, but she meant it as a smile, with tail wagging and body pasture to go with a greeting.
Then Bill & I moved to California for about 5 years. When we came back East, we lived with Sheba's owner for a while till we found our own place. When Sheba saw us again, she was overjoyed. Her family had been reunited. She obviously remembered us. She was a really exceptional dog. I'm glad she was in my life.
I had my snowy river drawing all sketched in and it was time to do the sky since there would be trees over the sky. Well my usual light vine charcoal came out too dark. I can't figure out why it came out that dark when I was using a pretty smooth paper. I have 1/2 different erasers and it just won't erase. 
