Hey all, American here visiting Portugal for vacation. Apologies in advance if this is a dumb question or stupid to bring to this sub Reddit.

My husband and I went for a hike today in a nearby (small) village in the Douro Valley and a tiny dog decided to follow us. She was not more than 12 lbs. and probably not more than 3 years old. She looked well taken care of and was fairly clean as well. But she literally followed us for over 4 hours on a hike. She let me rub her belly, pet here, and pick her up 1x. My husband and I were planning to take her to a nearby rescue because she didn’t seem to belong to anyone in the village. Once we got back towards our car she got very scared and mistrustful. Therefore we weren’t able to pick her up. We tried for a decent chunk of time with no luck. So ultimately we decided it was better to leave her.

My question is, is it normal for village dogs to follow random people around for such an extended period of time? Not sure if she just sensed that we were kind, was bored, or just thought we might eventually give her food…but wondering if this is just the case in all small villages of Portugal.

EDIT: [picture of the cute doggo](https://imgur.com/a/nbktbzd)

by dasvas03

7 comments

  1. >She let me rub her belly, pet here, and pick her up 1x.

    It’s a dog. if you treat them well of course they will follow you. What did you expect? Are dogs different in America from the rest of the world?

  3. Remember the dog was well before you come, didn’t need any saving

    Just enjoy the company, he was just curious and don’t kidnap him from where he is happy

  4. The small village in the north where I usually go for holidays also has a dog like that. Adorable, follows you around, well taken care of. Those dogs have the best living standards in the world.

  5. So you treated the dog well… treated her… she, of course, followed you… went to some random location that took 4 hours, to who knows from and where… and then abandoned her? I hope the wild boars didn’t devour her. Bless her soul!

  6. These apparent stray dogs aren’t abandoned: they are someone’s or even community-owned, meaning a whole village takes care of them. They are friendly and see humans as friendly too. When they see a stranger, these dogs see petting, food and a little adventure for a while. They are living the best of lives. Don’t ruin it for them: they will know their way back to their safety.

  7. >but wondering if this is just the case in all small villages of Portugal.

    This happens with the dogs of every village under 1000 people if the person is foreign.

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