there's something humanizing watching someone pet a subservient dog. the person reverts to a childhood state for a brief moment. you could be a moral-less axe murderer, a terrible person, but when you're sitting there, petting a dog who is just lying around, you look....wholesome. maybe it's because dogs supposedly have sixth senses about danger, so if they trust someone, that person must be okay right? then again, dogs are stupid, so what do they know?