At any given point in my life, I have had at least one dog. Although they’ve been all different shapes and sizes and each had its own unique personality, each of my dogs has shared one common trait: all of them loved unconditionally.

This is one major difference I’ve found between dogs and other types of pets. Cats, for instance, usually seem mildly indifferent to their owners, regarding them as more of a roommate and food source than anything else. But based on my personal experience, it seems as if most dogs love their owners more than themselves. That’s a level of selflessness that even the most generous of people can never attain, but dogs do it automatically, willingly and happily, almost as if they believe that their purpose in life is to make their owners happy.

My dogs offered me the unwavering loyalty and friendship that it seemed people never could. Whenever I had a bad day, my dogs were always there to comfort me; even though they had no way of understanding what was happening, they would look sad simply because they noticed that I was sad.Dogs really are much more incredible than most people realize. Their entire lives revolve around their owners; they wait all day for them to get home from school or work; they are crushed when we leave and overjoyed when we return. All they ask in return is that we love them back, but often we are so consumed with our own lives that we find ourselves unable to provide our dogs with even a fraction of the attention that they deserve. And although the single-mindedness of dogs would be a little unrealistic for the complex, busy lives we have to lead, isn’t that pure, untainted love pretty admirable?

Imagine how much better the world would be if people were a little more like dogs. People would compliment each other constantly. Charities would receive record-breaking donations. Peanut butter sales would skyrocket and everyone would need twice as many shoes, but that’s a different story. If we all cared about each others’ happiness as much as our dogs care about ours, greed and selfishness would all but disappear, and dogs themselves would probably be treated a little better, too.