A dogs life

In Portugal, it seems everyone has a dog, though I am not really sure why. The idea of dogs as pets and part of the family has not really caught on with the general population here as it has in the US, and it seems most dogs spend their days tied in the back yard, barking at everyone who passes by (as opposed to Blaze and Tazzy, who have the luxury of running from inside the house to outside in the yard to bark at those passing). Yes, most of them have shade, and water, and seem to be fed regularly, but they seem to not have any training, and get very little human interaction, and I can't imagine the families would miss them greatly if they were gone. In these cases I wonder, why do they have a dog? Is it that you are supposed to? Or for protection? Or one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time? Don't get me wrong, there are some dogs in Portugal that live very good lives, we see them romping on the beach and playing games and they seem to have people that love them very much. And I know there are dogs in the US that lead much more miserable lives than the majority of dogs here. But I just wonder, is it an education issue, a cultural issue, or something else entirely?