Duke met a cat today

Three cats actually. I needed to let my brother-in-laws pups out today, but I was returning from a frisbee demo and had Duke with me. Duke's met their dogs before but he's never been that close to a cat. I figured the cats could go out of Duke's reach if he annoyed them, and I'd keep him on leash just in case.

Ember, the calico kitty, greeted us at the door. Duke was curious, but in a "that's a funny looking dog" sort of way, not a "I'm going to eat you now" way. I shooed her away to make sure she didn't explore the great outdoors while Duke and I came in. Bug, the fluffy yellow cat, was laying on a table, and Duke walked right up to her and sniffed hello. Ironic, because Bug would have run away from me if I walked up to her. But no.....strange dog can walk right up and say hi.

I let all the dogs outside to do their business and the ritualistic "omg, there's a new dog amongst us, must.mark.everything!" Wilbur, one of BIL's pugs, was strangely fascinated by Duke and kept following him. Meanwhile, Duke was nervous and kept trying to get away from Wilbur. I laughed at my poor big dog getting chased around by a little pug.

We all came back inside, and Blue, the third cat, was perched and on high alert because this thing was in his house. The thing was still being chased around by Wilbur, so he didn't notice Blue at first. On his ninth lap round the kitchen island, Duke finally noticed Blue. By this point, Blue had lost interest in him, so he was just resting. Duke cautiously approached him from behind, but Blue heard him, looked up and gave Duke the stinkeye. And then Duke turned around and decided to go the other direction.

Right before we left, I went to love on Ember, and Duke started to follow me. Until Ember meowed. Not a "go away" meow...just a "love me, I love to be petted" meow. And Duke the not-so-brave ran away. The boy might be able to get awards for stupid pet tricks, but for bravery in the face of a 10 pound cat...not so much.