In my opinion, if we study pet's behavior specifically dogs and their relationship with children, it explains a lot about their social structure. In wild, dogs go to great lengths to establish & reinforce their position in a social group. Among dogs as pets, the hierarchy is straightforward, such as he who feeds me may boss me around. They also have a clear sense of who their family is. Once a person becomes "one of us," they are to be protected, whether they put food in the bowl or not. So they consider kids as their family. Canines know who their family is and most often won't hesitate to put themselves in harm to protect one of their own.

Hi, Prof. @Saman Zafar, thanks a lot. I found your ideas very interesting, especially seeing children as part of the dog family as pets.

Thank you Roberto - Minadeo