After bartering for goods with a human villager, I returned to the same village weeks later and discovered that one of the resident dogs was carrying things I had traded away.
While I don't remember exactly which human NPC here was the one I had chatted with, I've got a fair idea that the entire stack of clothes I had sold did not exceed their individual carrying capacity, since I hadn't observed the NPC drop items at their feet immediately after the trade was concluded. This fact contrasts with a barter exchange made elsewhere which had a few hundred roasted meat cuts be dropped by an NPC afterwards (and I tidied up the area by moving the stack indoors).
The dog in the screenshot is not for sale, which makes me unable to determine whether ownership of the dog might also transfer ownership of the items in its inventory.