Scooter and Lady don’t have much in common except for their attraction to Jase. Lady has been enamored with Jase ever since he showed up. She doesn’t put up with him being rude, and she is careful to take shelter under chairs or at eye level with Jase. That makes it easier for her to put Jase in his place when he forgets his manners, which is still too often. I’ll come downstairs in the morning, and she’ll be sitting outside his crate. She asks to come into the parlor and kitchen when she knows he’s out of his crate. She chooses to nap in places she knows Jase has access. I can only conclude that she likes him, clumsy oaf that he remains.

Scooter is an outside cat. He has been fascinated with Jase for several months. Jase kept lunging at him, which did not build trust with Scooter, but Scooter has been persistent, and Jase has been getting less lungy. Over the last couple of weeks, Scooter has been waiting for Jase on the porch when he comes out, and they’ve been sniffing. Jase has been quite gentle most of the time. As with Lady, Jase tends to get a little excitable, and Jase came in dripping blood after one encounter, so I know Scooter is prepared to defend himself and put Jase in his place, too.

Large dogs tend to mature slowly, and Jase is no different. At least we can see progress even if it isn’t as rapid as we would like. Impulse control is an ongoing effort, and him getting more relaxed with cats is part of it.