Paul and I love the beautiful island of Nevis in the West Indies. We love everything about this island- the people, the food, the tennis, the golf and a special stray dog we befriended on our first visit, named Coco.

We first met Coco on the golf course, where the drink-cart attendant told us her name and informed us that she would escort us around the course. We were missing our dogs at home, so having a dog along for a round of golf was a lot of fun. Coco knew where to stand when we were teeing-off and knew when to lead the way. She chased monkeys off the fairways and barked warnings at the guys looking for lost balls to sell. Coco would not come close enough to be petted, yet happily accepted treats from our lunches. Unfortunately, she was of no help finding lost balls!

One day Coco found us walking along the beach, and decided to join us. We walked up and down the beach, with this stray dog obediently walking by our sides. At one point, as we passed in front of the resort, she sat down and waited for us to return, knowing that the resort did not allow dogs on the beach. Several people were fascinated and asked if she was our dog, and we said no, yet we wished we could bring her home. That said, I am sure Coco would hate the cold Canadian winter, after living her life in the Caribbean and we already had two dogs.

This year I brought dog-treats for Coco, yet a year is a long time in the life of a stray and I wasn’t sure if we would see her. We went golfing on our first full day, and I started whistling for Coco. She found us on the third hole and gleefully wagged her entire body with obvious recognition and pleasure. Like no time had passed, Coco became our dog again and led us through the rest of the 18 holes. I rewarded her with treats all afternoon and she stuck with us to the 18^th hole. At the end of the week, I gave the drink-cart attendant the leftover treats and she promised to give them to Coco whenever she saw her.

Several years ago we took a family trip to Greece, starting in Athens. Our dog-loving family was warned that there are a lot of stray dogs in Athens and we had to read the riot act to our kids… First of all, do not pet the stray dogs. Secondly, if bitten by a stray dog, our trip is over and you will be subjected to numerous painful injections at the nearest hospital due the possibility of rabies.

This stern warning was tough on our dog-loving children, who were tempted each day to engage with the seemingly harmless, adorable stray dogs. We suggested that we take pictures instead, and so began our tradition of taking pictures of dogs of the world. Now on every trip we go on, we make a point of taking pictures of the local dogs, both strays and pets.

I love the picture of the little girls in the Andean Highlands, outside of Quito, Ecuador. We visited a small village school where the kids had found a litter of stray puppies. The boys were quite focused on their recess soccer game, while the girls sat on the sidelines, passing around the puppies. Our visit was a lovely, memorable experience.

Below is our collection of pictures of Dogs of the World. Before reading the caption below each picture, try to guess where each dog is from.