Those around him assumed he belonged to a woman sitting next to him – until she got off at her stop and left the him behind.
The dog managed to go undetected for almost an hour, until he was soon the only one left downstairs on the evening of October 24.
However, one passenger said Alfie seemed quite content with his own company and didn’t make a fuss.
They said: ‘Everyone else got off the bus and the dog was left. Me and my boyfriend were upstairs and the dog was downstairs. I thought the dog looked cute just sat there by himself.
‘The dog had followed a man on to the bus and the driver assumed it was his. The driver told us we couldn’t go anywhere until it was sorted.
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‘He seemed stressed because he needed to carry on driving but he wanted to help.’
They added: ‘The dog kept sitting on my knee while I was stroking him so I don’t think he was too scared.’
The passenger said the driver tried calling several vets but all of them had closed for the day.
Mum has months to live as 'bad cough' turns out to be stage four lung cancerA spokesperson from Arriva said: ‘We get some unusual passengers on our buses from time to time, but this dog was paw-fectly well-behaved.
‘Our new furry friend joined us at the Darlington travel shop while the driver finished his shift.
‘Thankfully, dog and owner have been reunited and we’ll look forward to seeing them both on our services in the future.’