My dog prefers one thing to everything else: food. After that, it would probably be sniffing trails, and then dogs' butts. He also loves making me throw his toys for him to fetch a thousand times a day. I don't think he really "loves" me, I think he's just predisposed to being able to live with a human. He certainly prefers other dogs to me. He doesn't like any of the things that I would sometimes like to do to express emotions for him (cuddling). He's a cheerful, happy dog, but I don't think he'll ever give a rat's ass about my husband or me.
I didn't think about this ever before. I've always lived (and I had dogs before) in the false belief that dogs "love" people that they live with, that they are generous and giving and yada yada. If I want to be honest with myself, I think my dog would give me up for a piece of chicken in the blink of an eye. I used to prefer dogs to children even. Now I think that's ludicrous. A child can learn to love you, to talk to you, to empathize. My dog will love only the part of me that throws him his toys to play and the hand that feeds him.
This isn't about me getting rid of him or anything in that vein. *I* do love *him*. Having a dog just opened my eyes to what they really are. Selfish cute animals that do not really care about humans except as "fulfillers" of their basic needs. I understand why we glorify them with the claims of love, devotion and nobility... It's a very attractive idea that many want to believe in. I just think it's ridiculously wrong.