The cat and the dog

Taking care of the big, black dog for a week. I love this dog. The cat is not as thrilled.

What is funny about it to me is that it all comes down to communication. The cat has no idea that the dog only wants to stick his giant head right in the cat's face so he can sniff around a bit. The cat sees 75 pounds of black danger, madly wagging its tail. He makes weird howling noises at the dog and hisses if he comes too close. The dog just really wants to play the way he does with the cat he lives with at home. And there's no way to tell the cat this.

They've developed a tense, working relationship. The cat seems to have agreed that there doesn't have to be any violence between them and the dog has grudgingly conceded that play time is not an option.

The cat did give in to his own curiosity for the briefest of moments. He was perched on the dining room table and I brought the dog into the room a bit suddenly. The dog stuck his face near the cat and instead of backing off, the cat put his face out too. Their noses were almost touching and they both took a few seconds to sniff each other. I see it as progress.