Dogs have been companions to mankind at least three times longer than any other animals have been domesticated. They lived with us when we lived in caves. Proto-dogs living with proto-humans. For the last 40,000 years we have evolved together, and at every step the dog has acquired traits making them more and more useful, and appealing, to humans. Our relationship with these noble canines is part of what makes us human. I mean know offense to any here when I say that one who truly dislikes dogs has a disconnect with some part of their humanity.
They herd for us, they hunt for us, they protect us. They are the only animal that has ever been used to protect our police and military personnel. They will, and have, willingly give up their lives for us. But more than all that, there is the comfort and serenity they bring daily to our lives. I'm never more at peace than when my rangy 60 lb pit puts his front legs in my lap, I drape my arms lightly over his shoulders and we commune with our foreheads touching. It's like Zen. Or like when my little 12 lb chug stands up on her hind legs and does a rat-a-tat-tat on my knee, her warm brown eyes begging me to pick her up and hold her, her little apple head nestled under my chin. It's the most unconditional of all love.