Dogs of Belas
Portugal loves dogs. In my small village there are three vets in walking distance. When I walk Jake past houses and yards the dog residents come to life and we trail a cacophony of barking like a car of newlyweds trails rattly tin cans.
There is also plenty of love for cats; three of our new friends have indoor cats, seemingly driven by their children’s timidity about dogs. I understand the timidity – the dogs here are much barkier than we are accustomed to.
Me, I’m more nervous of feral cats, which are legion. They roam the countryside at will, fed and watered by kind ladies who have constructed for them two makeshift cat castles – assemblages of crates and boxes with blankets and pillows and cat toys. There seems to be a program afoot to neuter strays, which is wise – if all the strays I see in a typical week had just one litter of kittens the village would be overrun.
The affection for puppers means I could have no better ambassador than Jake, who greets everyone like an old friend. The butcher, the churascaria owner, the vet, the cafe owner, random people at the bus stop, on park benches, even workers at the construction site down the street. And always, any delivery truck driver. Already the Amazon delivery guys and the mailman consider Jake a friend and bring him snacks.
As we walk along we are often greeted by dogs in yards above the sidewalk. At first this startled me, but now we are used to it, and Jake doesn’t even deign to look up – he never barks at other dogs.
As our youngest daughter Sophia noted in the first months after bringing Jake home, he only barks for joy. Which he feels at every meeting of friends, and so feels it is his moral obligation to woof insistently until noticed, petted, and perhaps allowed a kiss.
Most people are okay with this; my employer, M., whom I love, is not one of them, but Jake doesn’t mind.
When M. stayed the night on his way from Berlin to San Francisco, Jake greeted him deliriously, undeterred by any reluctance on M’s part to be kissed. I love you, is Jake’s message. I don’t care if you aren’t sure if you love me back yet – you will. Give Jake a chance! If only we could all approach love and affection the same way.
