Boris-canadabound

Hi, we are thinking about a move to Portugal (and I do need to do some research, so I am being slightly lazy here) and just wondering if there are any opinions on the best dog-friendly areas to live in Portugal. I am thinking of beaches and hiking trails, as well as hopefully pub/restaurant patios.
Thanks in anticipation!

BillBullock

You will be lucky to find any bears in Portugal but the wilderness areas of countryside are home to wild boar which are definitely not dog-friendly. Dogs are generally banned from busy beaches but there are many remote and quiet beaches. You cannot generalise about restaurants but my dog doesn't like them anyway. She doesn't appreciate sitting under a table, getting bored.

Rambling archer

You do need to consider the type of dog and the type of climate you are moving to - coastal areas tend to be cooler than interior areas but are more crowded and restrictive as to dog-friendly places. The Alentejo is famously hot and baking dry in summer, many areas inland may be prone to wet or chilly winters. Is you dog going to be a small indoor type or a fluffy newfoundland or sweaty labrador who might live outside.... Even the Algarve can hit 40+ºC and climate change is giving longer and hotter summers.
Read up on preventive measures against the so-called Mediterranean canine disease before you come and be ready to invest in collars/sprays etc. Especially of note if you are bringing your dog with you from an area where Leishmaniasis is not present is to get vaccinations done against this horrible disease as it is endemic in all of Portugal Already infected dogs cannot be vaccinated so it is as well to do it before you come. There are restrictions about importing dogs from certain countries and means of entry (flying in from Canada??).
Also as a dog-lover be prepared to live with neighbours' barking dogs, chained up dogs (though this is now supposedly illegal it continues) and neglected animals. Perhaps to integrate with the local community you might be able to help Rescue Groups who do great work with abandoned dogs and cats ...
PS dogs are allowed in outside areas of bars and restaurants (though a polite word with the waiter and surrounding tables helps) and a well-behaved dog is viewed with considerable surprise by some locals !! Beaches are generally of unrestricted access during the winter months and some few (off the beaten track) beaches are also during the summer (more generally those without lifeguard cover).

coleio

Dogs love these -

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news...rpillars/64420

Rambling archer

Thanks - very good article!

Moses2013

Rambling archer made some good points. Unfortunately there is no guarantee that your neighbours are dog-friendly and probably like everywhere you will find good and bad.
@Boris-canadabound I thought your plan was to move to France, was it because of the Visa situation you changed your mind?

Boris-canadabound

Moses – yes, you are correct (well-researched!) we always had France in mind, but are open-minded. Obviously Brexit has made going anywhere in Europe less easy than it was. We just want to end up somewhere that is not ridiculously expensive, semi rural but not completely cut off, not too crowded, with plenty of hiking/biking trails (maybe too tall an order). Our dog is a well-behaved and friendly labradoodle, loves water as well.

Thanks for everyone's replies.

liveaboard

traditionally, Portugal is not very dog friendly; it's against the law to take a dog into a restaurant, any shop that sells food (for humans), on public transport, and to any beach that is likely to have people on it.

I believe culture is moving though, with more Portuguese people having pet dogs. When I walk with my dog through the local village, a few grumpy old people mumble how I should keep the critter at home. I don't speak Portuguese though, so I pretend I don't understand what they're saying.

Policing is variable (like everywhere). When I first came dogs were running around free in town (only harmless ones). Then a new GNR commander arrived and made everyone tie them up; very few free dogs in our village now.

Veterinary care is good and not too expensive.

BillBullock

Where I live (in the countryside outside Olhão) there are very few Portuguese people who take dogs for a walk except to the beach, even when there are people enjoying the summer sun. One Portuguese lady walks her 3 rescue dogs daily, otherwise we only meet northern European expats in the countryside. The Portuguese of all age groups tend to keep their dogs on short chains, although some lucky dogs have the free run of a garden, albeit for their entire lifetime. In my experience, veterinary fees are expensive and there are a lot of poor Portuguese people who cannot afford to take their dogs to a vet. The StreetLife charity run by friends of ours raises money to help these people, especially for sterilisation of their dogs, as well as for stray dogs that are picked up on the street. As a result, the number of stray dogs on the streets has reduced noticeably over the years, although the number of dogs in the charity-run kennels has increased to bursting point. I can't work that one out but some other factors must have come into play.

Moses2013

Can't comment on France, we do have a place in Catalonia and they seem to be opening up a bit more now https://www.catalannews.com/discover...in-costa-brava. From what I've heard and seen, Spain and Portugal look very similar when it comes to dogs and BillBullock makes a good point. I noticed the same in Spain and the more rural it gets, the less people seem to walk their dogs or care for them. They are often just seen as guard dogs and in busier touristic resorts people seem to be more open. Unfortunately even in Ireland where I live some neighbours down the road never walk their dogs and while they might have big gardens, they just seem to ignore the dogs. Even at night they are just left outside and sometimes bark for hours which is quite sad. You never know really.

Boris-canadabound

Yes, that is sad. In the British Columbian mountain town where I live, the majority of dogs are well looked after, but despite the miles of hiking trails here, many dogs seem to spend all day outside their houses (if they are lucky). I think Portugal & Spain are off our list now. I had thought about Ireland actually.

Moses2013

Don't get me wrong, even where we live there are plenty of people who love their dogs. I have actually not seen one beach here in the West of Ireland where there are no dogs and even when there are signs people often seem to ignore them and it's accepted as long as they clean up. Just saying that even the most dog-friendly country won't change the fact that people are people and there's never a guarantee. We have lots of lakes in Ireland and just recently there were reports of blue green algae in Northern Ireland, so dog owners need to be careful.

macliam

"Pet" dogs are a novelty in Portugal. Dogs in the country are seen as working animals and treated as any other tool is treated - so be aware that our view of dogs as family members is a very "rich man's" viewpoint. At the same time, the number of abandoned and stray dogs in towns in the past made people fearful of them... and this is still being transmitted to the kids.

So whilst it might seem poor show to you that dogs aren't allowed on beaches, think how it would be if the beaches were fully of packs of hungry strays - and given the apparent "blindness" of owners to the deposits of their pets, imagine little Johnny on the beach covered in dog's mess.

The worst is that the cost of euthanising and sterilising a stray are about equal, but councils traditionally chose the former, due to the limited aftercare required. Equally, ask a Portuguese guy to have his (male) dog sterilised and you'd think you were suggesting the same treatment for him! Things are changing, but slowly.

As the owner of 2 "abandonadas" and having worked closely with a canil over past years, issues are more with people than dogs.....

wellinever

Dogs, where I live are one the biggest pains in the backside (for me that is). Urbanisation where many people are out working all day, leaving a dog or dogs in the garden. These animals are not trained, never taken out, clearly not socialised with other dogs or people. To describe these as guard dogs is a joke,,,,,,,,they can bark for hours at a time, barking at anything that they see moving (same postie for example every day without exception), but no one ever appears to find out what is causing the dogs to bark. Some owners too lazy to walk their animal and who do not want their dog to `poo` in Their garden, just leave the gate open so the dog is free to simply walk around....police/junta not interested. Total disgrace.

toots sweet

We live in a semi rural area(not isolated),but with a few houses close by and more in a couple of hundred metres. There are dogs which are thought of as guard dogs but a good majority have pets. We often see them out walking on leads along the road.One takes 3 (one is one legged).The farmer behind us has a small dog which is obviously a pet.Our elderly neighbour has his pet dog,who does live outdoors most of the time, but we often hear him chatting away to him, and the dog sits there contentedly listening.
As for barking dogs,you'd think in the country there would be a lot of barking,but not really.Starts mostly when the sun is going down and its like they're all checking up on one another and only last a minute or 2. More complaints seem to be in the towns and resorts.
On the whole I think PT is becoming more a dog appreciative country.The amount of volunteer groups popping up around the country is increasing, and the government is issuing more regulations re the treatment of animals. Cats seem to get the short straw I think. Younger people seem to like their pets.It's the older generations that are intolerant and uncaring,, still stuck in the ways of their previous generations.