Three cats and a dog

My three furbabies are not happy. Their humble abode has been overrun by a large, four-legged creature that would like nothing more than to chase them around the house and yard. Since I knew this would be the case before hand, I made a plan. All three cats would stay in the master bedroom. The dog would have the rest of the house and the yard.

A good plan.

Except last night, the dog wanted to sleep with me.

I tried to get him to sleep with one of the kidlets. No way. I tried to make him a bed on the staircase landing where he'd taken a nap. Nope. But I couldn't let him into my room because of the cats so all through the night I would hear pawing on the door. This, of course, would rattle the cats who, for the first time ever united together in a feline front, stood on the opposite side of the door and hissed. I would chase them away from the door, see if the dog needed to go outside and then give him some love so he'd go back to sleep. This went on from eleven last night until six-thirty this morning. Wanna guess how much sleep I got?

And then what wasn't the best of plans but was still sorta working okay, totally disintegrated. Who am I kidding? It exploded right in my face. One of the kidlets, who shall remain nameless, went to get the cats' food bowls and let out the indoor/outdoor cat. She darted down the stairs, a streak of dark fur, and came face to face with the dog.

Barks resonated through the house. Both animals stood frozen staring at each other. One so excited he was shaking. The other with its back arched and hair sticking out. A stand-off.

One of the kidlets quickly opened the back door. The cat sprinted out. Okay, those four little paws barely grazed the hardwood floor and probably would have won the Gold medal for the hundred yard dash had this been an officially sanctioned event. The door was slammed shut and then total chaos reigned.

Somehow I managed to get everyone, two feet or four feet, fed and the two footers to school on time. In case you wondered, hubby is out of town.

The cat is still outside. She came by for a bite of breakfast earlier. I just saw her sitting on the fence, scoping out what's happening inside. The dog is waiting by the door. Each time he sees the cat his paws do a little shuffle on the floor.

Somehow I need to get the cat back into the house without the dog noticing. Not sure how to accomplish this on my own. Any ideas?