Apologies for the length, I tried to keep it interesting....We rescued a 4-year old Lab/springer spaniel this past Saturday from our local humane society, and the previous family had raised her with kids (2, 4 and 7 years old), along with cats in the house. We've had our cat since aged 5 weeks (mom cat was a moron and we had to take her early), and she's had VERY limited dog experience. Only a few times, and she mostly watched them carefully from atop a dresser. One pit bull, several terriers. She's also a bit of a coward but yells at every cat, raccoon and coyote to come into the yard (she's indoor only).Our home's geometry doesn't really let us have any sort of end to end "high up highway" for the cat to move around, so the resident cat and dog take shifts upstairs: when the dog is in, the cat is in our closed bedroom or downstairs (she's used to both). When the dog is out, the cat is upstairs and loose. The dog so far seems to be unwilling to cross one old baby gate by the basement stairs we left up from our kid being younger, in the anticipation of a future dog (the gate's been there for five years now, waiting to go from a kid to a dog gate - 2.5 feet tall). The dog could easily bound it, being a lab/springer, but she seems unwilling so far. Whenever dog is outside with us more than 30 minutes, the cat gets the run of her house back. We've been dutifully doing things to exchange smells (cat's blanket goes in the dog's bed and vice versa).Day 1, 5/27: they made eye contact when dog arrived, cat hesitated few minutes, then tried to leave (gutting my shoulder in the process).Day 2, 5/28: face to face (dog on leash, 15 feet away). Cat stared bug eyed, dog was forward posture, staring, deep chest growl. Removed dog from scene. Cat kept up bug eyed thing, didn't retreat one inch during this.Day 3, 5/29: They stared at each other through the screened window. Dog got whiny and seemed submissive/disinterested/wanted to be away after some contact. Cat just loitered in windowsill, meowing, rolling around in the sun. "Fuck you dog, this is my window."Day 3 night, 5/29: Getting the cat downstairs after her day upstairs, the dog was heavily held back with positive reinforcement (and her leash/harness was also discretely tethered with a carabiner to a coffee table that a human struggles to move), but when the leash went slack, the dog just stared, watching her intently, and didn't move. Cat got to the point of while being held not being tense. Awkward silence between them for a solid minute, then the cat wanted to retreat to the stairs. I carried her downstairs from the scene.Days 1-3: Every time the cat meows from downstairs or paws at the basement door, the dog curiously checks it out. She does doesn't run, but cocks ears, goes over, sniffs. Same if the cat is in the bedroom. Has yet to paw at the door.Day 4, 5/30, round 1, late afternoon: Dog tethered to coffee table with harness and leash, wife holding her as well. Walked in with cat in arms, dog watched her a moment. Cat was calm. Dog laid down, legs stretched out. Butt flat, not in air. Looked away from cat. Would only look at cat and me, when I stepped around the room. When I stood still dog looked away. The first time dog looked away, she seemed to REALLY look away, and I saw whites of her eyes for a moment. Then dog settled down each time I moved, and closed her eyes. Dog kept looking away from the cat after a quick glance when I moved - no whites/whale eye sorta thing after the first time. Then the dog yawned. Cat got put into another room then to hang out. She meowed a bunch, on and off. The dog would get up, look toward the sound of cat's voice. Ears shifting around. Never moved toward the cat's room over the next few minutes at all. Cat has yet to move with her own legs in front of dog.Day 4, round 2, later afternoon: Cat was stuck downstairs all day (raining here, not much outside time). So she got to take a nap in our bedroom for the first time in four days. The dog ignored the room the whole time after seeing her going in during round one. Later, we had the dog tethered again and with my wife, and let the cat out to see what would happen. The dog wasn't getting near her the way we set it up, but to let the cat finally walk past. Went great... our 5-year old coached a few times to stand by the door... then the cat starts walking toward the dog, and our kid bull rushes the confused cat, scoops her up, and dashes her into the bedroom to keep her safe. The dog just seemed confused. Slack leash until our kid rushed in. End round 2.Day 4, round 3, night: The cat was heard rustling from her sunset nap, so we decided to take her downstairs for the night with lots of snuggles and a bowl of stinky cat food as a treat. I carried her around in front of the dog again, and the dog just sat, watching us. Nothing jumped out as an emotion? She for a second seemed to show a flash of her two front teeth then licked her lips a little. Slack leash.Day 4, later on: the cat's been crying downstairs, pawing at the door. She really wants to get out tonight. Every time she does, the dog ambles over to the stairs and looks down. Sometimes she'll go down the stairs and sniff at it, and look around. Sometimes she'll stare at the bottom of the door, like she's smelling or listening, not really moving some of the time. She still has yet to paw at any door with the cat. She whined a couple of times and looked to us. Each time she retires to her bed afterward. Some of the times she'll walk at a normal pace toward the stairs, others she ambles (never ran yet). She'll let out a sigh at times. The dog's been wandering between her bed and the stairs for an hour, whenever the cat cries every four, five minutes. She hasn't cried this much, as she has tonight.How's this all sound so far? Good start? Bad? Any warning signs? I started keeping track because it seemed like a good idea in case any weird patterns popped up, and I didn't want to be blindsided.The cat: http://ift.tt/2skkZ35 dog: http://ift.tt/2rmw5aN dog at the bottom of the stairs, cat on the other side of the door: http://ift.tt/2skBL26 via /r/dogs http://ift.tt/2rmlYTh
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