Doug & Moose Monday: For the Love of Dog

We watched our niece and nephew this weekend, and Moose did a lot of this:

As in, he followed our niece EVERYWHERE. He slept in the bed with her... all night long. Moose never sleeps anywhere all night long. He dupes us into letting him out a gazillion times every night, but on this night he refused to leave her side. And when she woke up in the morning, he was the happiest boy ever. He even sat underneath her while she ate cereal. He was her regular ol' shadow. By the way, who knew that the solution to our Moose insomnia was an eight-year old girl?

His behavior over the weekend reminded me of a conversation I had with Nick a couple of weeks ago.

Moose was smiling at me and shaking his groove thang because he was so happy to see me even though I'd been home for hours. I said to Nick, "I don't think anyone will ever love me more than Moose loves me."

And, being a good husband, Nick, of course said, "I love you more than Moose loves you."

"No!" I said, "Moose really loves me. Like, really."

And I know my mom will comment and tell me that she loves me more than Moose loves me, too. But does a mother really love their child more than a dog loves its owner? Or more than a dog can love an eight-year old child? I know people always say that the love a parent has for their child is like no other love, but is it a stronger, more unconditional love than a dog has for its owner or for its owner's niece?

I mean, ponder that, if you will...

I vote no, but that's just me.