Anonymous wrote:I value my children above my pets.
The love I have for my dogs though is very intense - like the way you feel about an infant or toddler.
Rationally of course the kids always come first.
This is a good way of putting it. I think I do love my dog as much as I love my kids, but I definitely prioritize my kids above my dog.
My kids exist because of me, it’s my obligation to raise them to be able to be productive and live independently one day, and they’ll most likely outlive me, hopefully by multiple decades. They likely will have offspring of their own. My dog doesn’t exist because of anything I did, will never live independently, doesn’t need to be productive, will have no offspring, and has a short lifespan. All I have to do with him is love him and provide care. There’s no long term result that I’m hoping to achieve. I just enjoy him. I love my children with all my heart, but there’s always second guessing about whether I’m making the right choices for them what repercussions there will be. Parenting is much harder than pet ownership.