A big week for Josie

Her first party and her first football game – and those were just the Saturdays (94)

We’re not people who bring our dog everywhere. (Were Josie writing this, she might complain that we take her nowhere.) Before we moved to Lisbon, our dog would accompany us in the car about town - provided the weather was just right - but they wouldn’t go to, say, a restaurant, a beach or a shopping mall, or any of the myriad other places we see dogs.

While that’s still more true than not for us in Lisbon, Josie has had some unexpected opportunities over the last eleven months to expand her horizons. A few of those came within a recent week.

PARTAY

Scott had committed to bringing his copy of Lisboa¹ to a game night on Saturday the 21^st when we got an invitation to a party our upstairs neighbors were throwing that same evening. Amy went to the party, Josie stayed home.

Alone.

(As usual, she notes.)

Scott returned close to 23h (11 PM), pretty tired, and was surprised to find Josie greeting him at the door by herself. Neither human was expecting to be out that late. Scott took Josie for her bedtime walk and texted Amy that he was home.

She asked if he was planning to come up to the party. Not really – he was rather looking forward to going to bed.

A moment later came another message: There is a request for Josie.

So when Scott and Josie returned to the building and hopped in the elevator, he pushed the button for “3” rather than “1” and they rode up an extra couple of floors. The door to the apartyment² is in the same position relative to the elevator as our door so Josie, as usual, burst out of the lift, barreled around the corner, and waited for Scott to catch up. Upon hearing the noise coming through the door, though, her head slowly cocked to the left and she emitted a soft *whuff* as she realized Something Was Different.

Amy opened the door and there were a lot of other people inside! Josie has never been to a party in someone else’s place before. She’s been happy to host dozens of times but this was a New Experience. Thrown only briefly, she met the moment, quickly launching herself into the middle of the impromptu dance floor.

By this time, the event had been in full swing for several hours. The arrival of Herself was a surprise and initial reactions were mixed. After the slightly overenthusiastic canine was put in a down stay and settled a bit, she quickly became the Hit of the Late Evening. She cleaned up a few stray crumbs around the floor, got petted by all and sundry, and was universally admired for her soft coat and good behavior.

She stayed maybe half an hour before being dragged out by leaving with the past-exhausted Scott.

Close encounters of the canine kind

The very next morning – barely 8 hours after the party – she was attacked by the annoying little wire-haired terrier that lives around the corner in - SURPRISE - the house with the black and white cat Josie desperately wants to meet!

The door Behind Which Lives The Dog (and apparently also The Cat)

There have been close encounters with said cat on numerous occasions since our move to the new neighborhood. For a while, Josie seemed on board with the play-it-cool-and-let-the-cat-get-used-to-you approach. That didn’t last long, though, as ours is not the most patient of pups.

This particular Sunday morning, Josie headed towards the top of the road where the small, gray dog lives. As she was in the middle of doing her business, the cat pranced by capturing Josie’s attention but - did you know this? - dogs cannot easily stop peeing mid-stream. They go until they’re empty.

There was a pregnant pause while canine and feline locked eyes, both frozen in place as a pool of urine slowly expanded onto the cobblestones. Then the bladder released its hold on the dog and she was off like a rocket, Scott barely holding onto the leash.

The cat raced down the hill and darted into an apartment on the right side of the road. Seconds later, the gray dog appeared at the door, raised its upper lip and came barreling out straight at Josie.

We’ve had our issues with this pup before. It’s quite loud and somewhat unpredictable regarding when it will decide to take offense to incursions on its territory.³ It was offended that morning and its irritation came through in the form of a nip to Josie’s left flank. It’s not terribly large or ferocious. Just quite loud. Josie and Scott ganged up on it and it quickly scooted back inside where voices were heard but not understood.

St. Louis Scott might have tried to Have A Word with the dog owner. It’s a loose dog. It attacked Josie. Portugal Scott took a cue from his pup, who seemed unfazed by the entire event, and they continued on their way.

The dog parks here are amazing

There are a fair number of dog parks scattered throughout Lisbon. In every one we’ve seen they’ve gone beyond the bare minimum of “tall enough fence and double-door entrance” to include agility equipment. Dogs who are so inclined can hop through a hoop suspended a few inches off the ground, run through a short tunnel, and/or up across and down a raised balance beam.

There is one such park in the nearby Campo dos Mártires da Pátria, the place where the roosters and water fowl run free. Josie has been to the Campo a few times now, but we’ve had enough experiences with dog parks in the States to be nervous about them. It seems there’s always at least one owner who doesn’t care to control their aggressive pup. We’re leery to bring Josie (the hipless wonder dog) to any dog park that’s too busy. When we’ve gone by in the afternoon or evening, there’s always been at least one large dog who rushes the fence and lets the neighborhood know its thoughts as we approach. That’s enough for us to keep right on moving.

Last week, Amy decided to try heading there first thing in the morning and they hit pay dirt - the dog park was empty! Josie had her first outdoor off-leash experience in Portugal.

She sniffed the perimeter of the park and halfway around she started doing crazy dog - racing about at top speed and play bowing Amy, who was happy to respond. A quick step in Josie’s direction would re-start any lost momentum. The pup ended up very, very tired. She slept well upon returning home.

This photo was actually taken on Josie’s third trip to the dog park, a couple of days after the first one. Here, she had her first off-leash dog interaction in Portugal. It went well, albeit briefly. Agility ring visible in the background.

BENFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

A week after the party, Josie ended up at a football match. Sort of.

The evening started with a plan to grab some takeout and bring it back to the apartment. Scott would get some food and Amy would walk Josie. All three of us ended up outside a nearby burger spot with a sticker on the door.

Fine. We were just there for takeout. No need to cross the threshold.

We were greeted by a happy, smiling man who bent to pet Josie before inviting all three of us to sit in a booth just inside the door. Turns out he’s been the owner since July and he’s a dog lover who at one point had five dogs.

We should note that this was not Josie’s first restaurant visit. A few months ago, we met a friend for lunch near the vet during one of Josie’s water therapy sessions. The treatment ended earlier than expected - we were still in the middle of our meal - and the folks at the restaurant (somewhat reluctantly) let us bring her in. She won them over by lying so quietly and unobtrusively that half the other patrons who came in never even noticed she was there.

So by now, Josie was basically one step away from her own maitre d gig . She settled in like a pro and we ordered food.

The owner of the place with the no dogs sticker on the door even brought us a bowl for her.

The TV in the tiny burger joint was tuned to the pre-game Benfica-Santa Clara activities; the match was due to start in about half an hour.

Over the course of the next 15 minutes, the previously empty restaurant filled to capacity, nearly everyone but us decked out in Benfica red. One of the other patrons was an older man who never fails to pet Josie when he sees us walking, which is not infrequently - we’d even passed him just a few minutes earlier on our way over. Turns out his name is Jose (which is pronounced with a soft j in Portugal). We know this because he politely asked if he could sit on the bench next to Scott and between our broken Portuguese and his few words of English, we exchanged names.

Then this happened.

We left shortly after shooting the video, as we typically feed Josie at 6 and we hadn’t been planning to be out that long.

After we got home, there was just enough extra noise from outside that we decided to check into things and we learned this was the last match of the season for both teams and a league championship was on the line for Benfica, its first since 2019.

Then this happened.

Josie, like most dogs, is not a fan of fireworks (her commentary in the video is not positive). Perhaps attending an actual futebol match would not be in her best interests.

Regardless, it was quite a week for our pup in the land where every trip out the front door has the Potential to be New and Different.

That’s all for now.

Love from Lisbon,

Scott & Amy

1. Amazing board game. Highly recommended - plus, playing Lisboa in Lisboa? Who can pass up that chance?

2. See what we did there?

3. One day a few weeks back, we approached from the top of the hill and watched with amusement as the short-legged creature ran slowly up at us, barking at top volume all the while. We decided to give it a pass and chose another street to head down. We walked around the block and ended up at the bottom of gray dog’s street. Where it watched quietly as we ascended the hill and passed it not 15 feet from its front door. This dog is clearly not a master of tactics.