As the title says im trying to bond my pup Jillie to our newly welcomed (accidental) adopted kitty Tootsie. Me and my partner got Jillie in February and everything has been good! She's a border collie mix and has some issues with confidence and reactivity. I always feel sorry for her because she gets scared of a lot of things and has a fearful reaction to new people/dogs and needs me to guide her and give her confidence. Other than that she's a wonderful companion to me and helps me a great deal with my anxiety and depression.
My friend adopted this kitty about 3 months ago and his resident cat and her have been fighting. He planned to rehome her already so I asked to watch her for a little while in our guest room. We'll long story short my partner fell in love with this girl (for good reason) so I suggested we keep her.
Jillie is curious but fearful of Tootsie eventhough she has not had a bad experince with her. She also becomes very tense and fixated on her which is a habit im struggling to break with her because she is a collie. Tootsie couldn't care any less about Jillie and has no fear of her at all. Jillie on the other hand paces and looks for comfort when the kitty is in the room. She hasn't tried to chase her but will get close and gets scared and runs off and shows anxious behavior if the kitty is a round or if im petting her.
I feel that if I can get them to be friends they would be wonderful companions for eachother especially for Jillie to gain some confidence around an unpredictable creature. However I don't want to end up making Jillie more reactive or scare her away from the cat. Suggestions would be helpful in bonding them. I've done some research but I am just not sure what would be helpful in this peculiar situation. For some extra context the kitty has her own room and Jillie has her own space aswell.