So, our houseguest is here.

He came into the house, the cats were locked up in a bedroom, let him sniff around and get used to things. Lily was out, she kind of freaked out because of his exuberance, but that's normal for her. He was excited, but things calmed down.

Okay, put the dog in his crate, let the cats out to investigate.

He got really excited and kind of growled/barked at them and they hissed and are being very avoiding of the living room where his crate is now.

I thought that might have been a good way to handle things and introductions for now, but I'm not so sure now.

Any ideas on how to get the cats to relax some and help control the dog's excitement?