Toby and Kashka

7 years ago my family got a kitten, and named her Kashka (Russian for cat, more specifically a girl cat), it turned out she was a he but the name stuck. Kashka was an outdoor cat, but after a 280 dollar vet bill after he wandered off for a couple days, he became an "outdoor" cat, meaning he lives in the garage and comes in the house sometimes.
After being the center of all pet attention for six years, Kashka was not too thrilled about Toby moving in and cramping his style. Toby on the other hand is fascinated by Kashka. Toby loves sniffing him until Kashka smacks his nose (no claws out though), and then Toby acts like he is surprised and tries again. I personally wanted them to be comfortable with each other and if not make friends at least live in harmony since Toby frequently goes into the garage with me and Kashka likes to come in the house when he can.
So I had to figure out how to train a cat! Not an easy task! Dogs are happy to do any trick they can for a "Good Boy!", cats want to get something for doing something that they wanted to do in the first place.
I tried kenneling Toby and letting Kashka wander the room and get used to Toby's presence, I tried kenneling Toby and putting bits of ham and turkey near his kennel to entice Kashka over. Kashka sat by the door ready to bolt.
So I was just going about my business, and letting Kashka get used to Toby at his own pace, when I saw a little progress (Toby and I went out to the garage and he and Kashka sniffed each other nose to nose) I decided to try something new. I took Toby out to the garage and got him some food. Kashka was laying on his big box that is just taller than Toby's head. I grabbed Kashka's favorite treats and alternated giving Toby a piece of food and giving Kashka a treat while they were about a foot apart. I slowly had Toby move closer to the box and kept feeding them. Within minutes I was able to put a cat treat and piece of dog food in the same hand (one on each side of my palm) and Kashka and Toby would eat them, nose to nose! They may not be best friends, but Kashka seems more at ease these days.