dominant versus submissive pets

This is a true story. Promise.

My dog had to deal with three cats. One, a female, would take one look at him and run in the opposite direction.
Cat number two, a dominant male, had swatted the dog across the nose when he was a puppy, so the dog would stay clear of the big cat.
The third cat was a neutered male; the dog made this cat his sexual slave. (I'm not kidding) This cat would let the dog hump him whenever he wanted too in exchange for the privilege of eating out of the dog's bowl. (The dog ate cat food heheh). The dog would nibble on the cat's ear until the cat sat still; then the dog would do his thing on the cat's back. When the dog was through, the cat would rub against him a few times then go eat.
He was the fattest cat we have ever had. LOL

This went on for years. It was pretty disturbing at times to be looking out at my beautiful garden on a lovely sprng morning, and have the idyllic scene shattered by the image of the dog jumping on the stone picnic table to hump the cat.

Though it did make for some interesting conversations with our house guests and the occasional delivery man who drove up at the wrong moment.

It all ended when the cat died. The poor dog looked for him for days afterwards.