A Healthy Dose of Fear

I'll keep it short and sweet today. Everybody knows that cats and dogs don't get along. Dogs chase cats, cats chase mice, etc. and on down the food chain. I decided to introduce Levi to a cat while he was young, to try to encourage his acceptance of the species. Nothing ever goes as planned. I brought him over to Lindsay's house to meet her cat Chloe (now aka the bitch). Levi, being a puppy, had never seen a cat before, and thought any living creature was his friend and to be played with. As soon as I put him down in the room with Chloe, he had a healthy dose of curiosity. His tail was wagging, he jumped around a bit getting into pouncing playful position a few times. The cat, however, knew what he was, and was having none of it. Chloe was de-clawed, but that didn't stop her from rearing onto her haunches, hissing, and swiping her paw at the air in warning. Levi knew nothing about the meaning of these warnings, though. He proceeded to get closer to the cat, sniffing at the air trying to get a handle on what kind of game this funny animal might be playing. He wandered just a little too close, and Chloe leaned in and in the blink of an eye batted his face with her paws faster than our eyes could follow. Levi jumped in confusion and fear, yelped out, and ran across the apartment into the entryway, and cowered in a corner. Cats were now an evil, scary thing. The next run I took him on, there was a cat down the road sitting cleaning itself. Levi spotted it and went tearing after it, only to realize what it was as he got closer and slam on the brakes, turn around, and run back to hide behind my legs. I may not have a dog that gets along with cats...but at least he wont be attacking any! :)