I have spent 56 of my 60 years terribly afraid of dogs. So afraid that I would cross the street to avoid one, seemingly well behaved and on a leash. So when my daughter said she wanted a dog, I said "No way!" and kept right on saying it even as the front gate opened and this sheep-sized thing she'd picked up at the Jerusalem SPCA dragged her in. A year-old Samoyed that some family had brought in, probably because he was too big for their apartment. For two days he lay with his head in my daughter's lap, too scared to even come up to us to be petted, and at that point I realized how deeply traumatic losing his family had been to him. Even now, a year on, he doesn't wander far when let out, but wants to keep us in sight. He is a real "gentle giant", and he's totally hopeless as a guard dog: he'd lick any potential burglar to death. I agree that children should be preferred to dogs, but you can tell what kind of person someone is by the way they treat animals. Nowadays, I split my donations.