I had a cat who stayed away from everyone. Except he gravitated toward my very sweet friend who was actually afraid of cats. He wanted to sit on her lap.

I would trust Paco. Keep us informed of how Paco proceeds. I have no idea what would smell so offensive....?

A story about living with another species, we share our lives with Australian Shepherds. The breeder we got our current guys from told us a story about animal intuition. Their grandmother visted a friend of hers with her and was on high alert circling her friend - was able to sense an impending seizure that her friend suffered and was an early warning device.

The first cat that I owned [for 19 wonderful years] was a white haired,copper eyed Persian who was stone deaf. I'd had him for well over a year before I realized his disability. That's how talented he was at disguising it.

Came a day when I was having new flooring installed in my home and Ali Baba was supervising the entire installation...just as your Paco was doing. When the workman stopped for lunch..as he sat in my dining room enjoying his sandwich and chatting with me...Ali marched up to him and without notice...bit him quite ferociously on his heel...then sauntered away.

I was horrified! The workman was civil about the entire experience but it set me to wondering what had spurred my cat on to do such a thing.

The job was completed and I gave the workman a generous tip...hoping that would compensate for my cat's behavior.

Several months passed. I never saw the workman again. BUT I did learn that he was a rather scurrilous man with a history of legal offenses. How Ali knew this and decided to demonstrate his dislike of the man is still a mystery to me but Ali may have saved me from an unpleasant fate. The man had been arrested for theft on many occasions in homes where he was working.

From that experience forward...I learned never to question Ali's behavior.

If the tile man is still around, I think I would ask him if he has any pets. Maybe Paco smells snake, hawk, ferret, or mongoose on the guy.

We used to have a certain occasional visitor to our house who I knew was not entirely trustworthy, but I could handle it. Our dog knew it, too. Barked and snarled at him every time. This is the only person I'm aware of our dog having snarled at.

Maybe the worker owns a pet that Paco didn’t like the smell of?

tj

Happened to me once, with my own cat, after we came home from a day at the zoo; never saw kitty act that way before or after.

I think the evolutionary nature of animal survival and development over the centuries has given some, like dogs and cats, keen senses. For protection and survival. I don't think either have profound analytical skills (other than what they can be taught) and I don't suspect either practice thinking that goes any further than the superficial, that expected to protect and get along as a member of a family or pack.

Individuals with social personalities (which not all dogs and cats have) demonstrate affection, protection, and other soldierly pack member attributes. Not all to the same extent. I think they all superficially react to new situations to some extent and not always correctly or insightfully. I think animals can react to new situations by measuring up what they see, smell and hear but I wouldn't consider that to be a judgement of personality.

Oski thinks everyone who comes in the door is a new friend. Maybe he's not as perceptive as some other pets.

Make sure your doors and windows are locked tonight.

I have one dog who thinks everyone is out and about because they're just dying to meet her and the world is just one giant happy source of new friends, and another one who looks at everyone new as a potential axe murderer and is pretty skittish until he gets to know people.

So yeah, I'm not trusting either one of them to size up people. LOL.

Years ago my normally over-friendly dog growled at someone at a rest stop. I believed her.

If you are pretty sure the bathroom worker is from a trustworthy company as I’m sure you’ve vetted your other workers with recommendations, etc, I would probably believe he has a pet that your cat has reacted to more than be worried about him being a threat. However, I would be on guard and not be alone at home either.

My first thought was that he had some kind of scent on him, like from another animal, that Paco didn't like.

Just getting home, and my thought too was that your tile guy may have a pet or have been someplace where there was a pet who your Paco finds offensive.

You know him/cat best, so in the meantime I would be at least mildly alert. Don't show the contractor where the spare key is hidden :)

A friend of mine answered the door one evening to someone asking for directions. Rural, so not completely unusual, and her doberman (untrained) appeared behind her in full guard mode and snarling. She cut the conversation short and locked the doors. It wasn't usual behavior from her family loving pet and she decided to follow her gut - called her husband to come home from the neighbors. There were a couple of breakins in their area later that night...maybe a coincidence or maybe not.

With a busy, big family household, and being the neighborhood "house" that all the teens/young adults hang out at, we have young people coming and going all the time. The dogs bark at the doorbell, but settle down immediately and for the entire visit as the "kids" go in and out.

But dang, whenever an official looking worker comes over, they are on point! They growl, they lunge at the door, and I have to (and want to, and would anyway) keep the dogs behind closed doors when any worker is here. But how do they know? How can they tell a youthful appliance repair guy from one of the kids' new friends? I don't know, but they KNOW. Weird.

I had a very funny cockatiel, Homer, for several years. She was normally fairly reserved with strangers though almost always polite. For instance, she would step up on a proffered finger, but would flutter her wings to get away…without biting. When she met my soon-to-be husband for the very first time, she jumped up on his finger, then immediately to his shoulder in order to snuggle his neck and whisper little sweet things in his ear.

Paco also loves all other animals. One of the other guys who was working in the house had two big dogs and a couple of cats at home and had Paco twining around his legs and rolling over on his back for scritches.

Pets don't lie.

If Paco says the man is hinky; then the man is hinky. Don’t be in the house alone with him.

Ted Bundy was soft spoken, well dressed, intelligent, polite, … until he wasn’t.

My pets lie. I don't think the lady pushing a kid in a stroller presents the danger my beloved idiot dog thinks she does. 😆

After we got our first Aussie, I was able to sleep soundly at night without fear when DH traveled on business and I was alone out here. No one will get past them. They are very powerful determined dogs with a sense of duty. Not easy to raise but fascinating to share our lives with,,,

Trust Paco. My Trouble would disappear when anyone was in the house except for a few times. Once he hissed and stayed between me and the person. Couple of months later he was in the news because he had badly beaten and raped a woman.

Stay back from the person if the task has not been completed. Insist that they go in front of you and not behind you going up or down stairs.

What do you plan on doing?

Along with the possible scent of something upsetting to your cat, I'm wondering if the person triggered a bad memory from Paco's past?

A friend adopted a very sweet dog that previously belonged to an elderly disabled person, and she immediately gloms onto anyone using a walker or cane.

Animal behavior like that just fascinates me. I would believe Paco too!

One time when I was a teenager, my mom‘s friend, who she hadn’t seen in many years stopped by along with her adult son. He was in his mid-twenties.

Our little Maltese Poodle named Daisy, who was the most gentle sweetest dog, ran right up to the young man and full on attacked him! She bit him on the leg. Thank goodness he had on thick jeans so she didn’t really hurt him.

My mom and I were in total shock! She had never shown even a hint of aggression before.

But then my mom says, ”Oh my goodness, I know what happened! Don’t you remember when you were a little kid and you kicked Daisy real hard and she yelped?”

He didn’t remember.

Well, Daisy remembered.

And in her mind, it was payback time!

Wow.

I had a very sociable cat, almost dog-like many years ago. We rented a house from my boss's mother in law who was a real witch...a woman that kind of exuded evil to me. No one liked her, including my boss, but she had a great house in an area of few rentals, and didn't live near by. She showed up unannounced one day with a real estate person and walked around the outside of the house. My cat followed her from window to window, hissing and all puffed up. He knew. The only other time he did that was with a man my husband worked with and when he and his wife came into our home, the cat reacted to him similarly. Every time. I wasn't 100% comfortable with the guy myself, but evil was probably not a description I would have used. But it gave me pause about him.

I am the nicest person in the world to dogs. I love them and they are drawn to me and affectionate. Recently I was bitten on the hand by a family members dog while eating dinner. They thought she was just looking for me to give her a treat of people food. I had teeth marks and a few drops of blood and my hand was red and swollen. Totally unprovoked. My hand was just resting in my lap. So...that dog got it very wrong.

Trust Paco. I totally believe animals have a sixth sense we humans don't possess.

I once knew a lovely dog who absolutely hated small men wearing hats.

Yikes, Elizabeth! Obviously, the dog mistook your hand for something or was startled or....

I later learned that she was in the habit of going from person to person at the table getting scraps of food. I have never fed a dog from the table or allowed begging. I was ignoring her. I think she was demanding that I give her food.

I think cats, dogs, and people all vary in their ability to read a person. I wouldn't discount it, if my pet took a dislike to a person. You do have to take their breed into account though, especially if they have guarding stock in their genetics. I know one dog who won't accept anyone into her house, but is fine, even affectionate, when meeting people outside. (I can picture her saying, "Not my monkeys, not my circus"...)

my 2 danes think everybody is their best friend. even people they are meeting for the first time get the royal treatment, that being leans, slobbers and lap sitting. they simply don't know a stranger. that being said, they are protective of their home and of me. if there's a knock on the door or a car drives up, they are 100% on alert and have often stood between me and the other person until i give them the "ok" at which point, they relax. while they are over-the-top friendly to everyone, there's no doubt in my mind that should someone try something untoward with me, there would be 300# of dog coming to my rescue.

@ blfenton i watched the 60 minutes segment and it was, indeed, fascinating!

this was taken about 5 minutes after meeting my 2 friends for the first time.

^^ Oh, that is lap-fulls of love!

Awww, Nina….I wanna come over to your house for some dane time!

eld asked what I planned to do about the situation and the asnwer is: nothing. Other then being aware and alert, there isn’t a thing I would do. My husband and I are joking about it (”Hide the silver, Mildred!”) and it’s been fun to talk about. I have no doubt that Paco senses something about this man and I do trust his instincts. I had another cat who displayed the same kind of behavior to a man who proved to be dangerous.

Both of us will be here today while he finishes up his work and that will be the end of it. I confess to doing a little checking on him last night and nothing about him raised any flags. He’s been at this company for over ten years. He’s due here at any minute, so if you don’t hear from me in 24 hours…..🧌

Thank you all for your comments and stories; it has been fun and interesting to read the comments.

Awww, Nina….I wanna come over to your house for some dane time!

you would be welcome anytime!!

i do believe that some breeds are more perceptive to our human emotions than others. all of my danes (i'm on numbers 9 and 10) have shown great empathy toward me when i've had weepy days. they get very clingy and won't leave my side.

a good example was when my brother-in-law lost his heart dog, a lovely aussie girl. poor guy was beside himself and so sad. he came to the house, knowing i would understand better than anyone how he was feeling. not only did i get it, pippin could sense his sadness. she climbed up on his lap and laid there for a solid hour. he calls it "dane therapy". ❤️

Both of us will be here today while he finishes up his work and that will be the end of it.

That sounds ominous.

Haha, Lucille. All is well, of course. Bathroom looks great and Paco is taking a long nap. We had a tremendous storm today, full of light, noise, a lot of rain and he slept through the whole thing.

Here’s another perspective: I don’t like dogs. I’m not a mean or threatening or dangerous person. I’m a grandma, a small person who was frightened by dogs when I was young. I never learned to like them and therefore have no interest in them.

Some dogs seem to sense this and they bark at me, even though I’m completely nonaggressive.

Please don’t assume that everyone your dogs don’t like are bad people.

I just love your Danes, Nina.

@lily316 thanks! they have gotten me through some tough times. today marks 15 years since i lost my husband. this is a hard time of the year for me but the danes put lots of smiles on my face every day! 💕

Nina...I too love your danes. I was @ Petsmart a few years back and they had a Dane Adoption event in progress. I was very tempted....

I was recently out for a walk and had an envelope in my hand. I came across the lady and her 2 dogs who walk a number of times/day. I've always petted and fussed over the dogs. This time, I went to pet the one and he had a very deep growl. Never, ever had he done that.

The lady noticed the envelope and said that he hates posties, so he obviously associated the envelop with the postie, not with me, personally.

I'm a dog person. My little dog passed away recently and so we only have the two cats left. My dog loved everybody. I don't remember him not loving everybody. I've tried, but I am simply not a cat person. Our cats come hang out with me when we are alone at home. I'll never be able to handle them like my husband and children do. There is something about me that cats are not comfortable with. I'm not mean to them.

@nicole___ i had wanted a dane since i was a very small child. i didn't get my first one till i was 57. danes are often referred to as the "heartbreak breed" because they don't often reach double digits in age. i have been fortunate that many of mine have lived to anywhere from 12 to 14 years old although i have lost a few at a much younger age due to genetic issues. with rescues, you just never know what you're getting.

giant breeds are also very expensive to keep. things from food to medications to flea/tick control are so much more than the average size dog. many people don't realize that when they (often impusively) bring home a cute 40# dane puppy that grows to 150# practically overnight and that's the main reason so many end up in rescue. lots of people also dump their senior danes because when they get old, maintaining them is even more expensive with vet bills, joint supplements, etc. many of my rescues were seniors when i got them and even though i didn't have a whole lot of time with them, i treasured every minute!

One of our Westies didn't like men with beards or horses. We had a small TV on a chest in the dining room and another set low to the floor in the adjacent room. If Pip spied one of these nasties on the dining room TV, he'd bark, then race around to the lower TV to see if he could attack them there.

DH attracts dogs. They all just love him; me, not as much.

Ninapearl... The cats greet us at the door....that will have to do...

One of my brothers had a Dane. She was so lovable and endearing. One thing is certain, you have to be prepared when a Dane decides to sit on your lap! They just don’t understand how big they are.