Perhaps it might help you to rest assured that upon your demise your dog WILL note and grieve your passing. They do, you know. Remember and miss and grieve you, I mean. My cat has been less than well since my husband died 2 plus yrs ago and has reflected my own grief and the stress of the household in general.
Most I know who’ve lost someone and have pets report the same; the dog/cat mourns and looks for and misses the one not there. Sometimes they pine away despite all the care in the world.
We so often underestimate the capacity of our “pets”, imo. And I say this as someone who has never considered animals I’ve known as my “furpets” (gag me) or on a par with my S.O. or kids…:smack: But YES, they FEEL, they LOVE.
Believe me when I say that my cats do not live in the moment. And the grey one knows when it is 8:00pm and comes to me and says “mow” and I get up and go to the refrig and give him a dollop of whipped cream. And then, believe me, he is happy. And if I don’t get up and go to the refrig, he is clearly NOT HAPPY.
They have no mortgage payments.
They typically get fed at the same time every night.
They have no credit issues.
They don’t care what’s on TV.
They (usually) get unlimited scratches and belly rubs.
They can sleep whenever they want with no explanations.
Need I say more?
I think that humans are at least potentially happier; with more complex brains, more intellectual complexity and more complex emotions, we have more to be happy with. As for actual happiness I have no idea; there’s plenty of miserable humans, but plenty of miserable animals too. Yeah, your pet may be happy, but what about the dog freezing and hungry on the street or with abusive owners?