Our downstairs neighbors have a wonderful dog. He is a large border collie named Jameson. He and Raz were pals. I had to take Raz weekly to the vet to get fluids, and we'd run into Jameson outside. I'd have Raz in his carrier, strapped to the four-wheeler, and Jameson would either be coming in or going out to potty. They just really hit it off. Jameson has even come to my house for a play date with Raz.
Knowing that Jameson is a very calm and quiet dog, I figured he'd be the best one to introduce to Gus. Having a dog barking in your face is never very friendly. So I invited him up to meet Gus. I'm pretty sure Gus has never seen or been around a dog. He's also very calm and not timid so I thought it would go well. At first, Gus froze, he had no idea what to think, but then Jameson went up to sniff him, and that was too much! That is a lot of dog to come out you when you are still small! Gus ran under the bed.
Later, my niece decided to come over, so I told her to bring her dog (he's smallish a schnauzer/yorkie mix). Gus was intimidated by Jameson, but not really scared. Thirty seconds after Jameson left, Gus was out and normal. So I didn't think it would be a big deal. The difference is that my sister and niece's dogs are yappy. Small yappy dogs are very annoying (for everyone). So Moose ran in, barking, and it intimidated Gus. He ran under the couch. But Gus wasn't really scared, maybe startled, so he came out fairly quickly. Then, he tried to figure out what Moose was. Now Moose is a scaredy cat of a dog, and he's never met a cat he wasn't terrified of so he kept a respectful distance from Gus. This helped Gus gain his confidence and not be worried about the dog. Ten minutes after Moose arrived, Gus was playing and unconcerned. The pic below is the first standoff while both critters were trying to figure out the other!
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