In 2017, Cambridge researchers looked at the interactions of 12-year-olds and their pets in 77 British households. The children were asked about the quality of relationships with their family members, including pets. That quality was calculated across four different dimensions: satisfaction with the relationship, feelings of companionship, communication, and conflict.
Of those parameters, the kids reported not only less conflict with pets than their siblings, but also more satisfaction. That's a polite, academic way of saying they felt a stronger bond with their pet than with their brother or sister. Moreover, researchers noted that in the hierarchy of pets, kids were most bonded with dogs.
So consider this original Bored Panda list as the following argument: if you believe that your kids don't need a dog, you must be a cat. While we're at it, check out a compilation of photos we put together in the past to support this claim too.
#21 Had To Put My Dog Down A Few Months Ago. My Son Will Never Know How Much Griffin Loved Him

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530points
#23 My Brother’s Daughter And New Puppy Are Already Best Buds, They Even Have Matching Outfits

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507points
#24 Took My Dog And Daughter Out For The First Time Together, In A Winter Wonderland

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507points
#26 Our Dog Has Hardly Left My Wife’s Side Since Baby Arrived. He’s A Proud Older Brother

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504points
#27 My Daughter Was Nervous Around Dogs, And Then She Met This Guy. He Let Her Love All Over Him For 20 Minutes And Afterwards, Her Fear Was Gone. Thank You, Sweet Boy, For Making Her Into The Dog Lover She Is

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501points
#28 It’s My Dogs 4th Birthday, My Daughter Spent All Her Pocket Money Buying Her A Steak

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491points
#29 My Dog Is 18, Has Trouble Standing. Since Clare Was Born, He Stands For Hours Watching. Good Boy

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484points
#30 Our Son Had A Heart Transplant. My Wife Made Him A Tin Man Costume. Cowardly Lion Played By Murphy Jenkins

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472points
#31 The 12-Week-Old Guarding The 1-Week-Old. Something Tells Me This Is The Start Of A Beautiful Friendship

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471points
#33 Our Daughter Was Visited By Maddie, A Therapy Dog, Before Her (Successful) Surgery At Phoenix Children’s Hospital ... This Dog Helped All Of Us More Than She Will Ever Know ... She’s Not A Good Girl, She’s A Great Girl

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452points
#35 Our Good Girl, Stella. Picked Her Up A Year Ago At The Pound. The Best Farm Dog Ever

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448points
#36 Step 1: Try To Take Cute Pic Of Dog And Baby. Step 2: Dog Sneezes During Pic. Step 3: Accidentally Capture My Dogs Inner Demon, And My Son Thinks It's Funny

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445points
#37 I Waited Over Ten Years For A Dog, Finally Have A Backyard. We Tried For Two Years To Get Pregnant, Finally Had A Daughter. Last Month My Heart Became Complete

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444points
#40 We Were So Nervous To Bring Our Newborn Son Home To Meet Our Beagle. Best Friends Right Away. Meet Oliver And His Doggo Sophie

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428points








