Those of us who have been fortunate enough to have them in our lives know that animals are the sources of the purest and most unconditional love. When we look back, we can only regret one thing: that our pets didn’t come around sooner to keep us company. The truth is that the relationship between animals and humans should begin as early as possible, and there are some people who have been fortunate enough to experience this from a very young age.

Bright Side brings you several photos of the most heartwarming friendship there is: that between a kid and a noble animal.

1. “Had her for a week, I think he loves her!”

2. “My daughter was nervous around dogs, and then she met this guy.”

He let her love all over him for 20 minutes and afterward, her fear was gone. Thank you, sweet boy, for making her into the dog lover she is!

3. “So, Cassidy (my daughter) was snuggling Elsa (our rescue pup) under her hoodie.”

I walked into the room and asked, “Where’s Elsa?” Well, Elsa tried to get to me… guess which hole of the hoodie she tried to use??

4. “Somebody got a birthday kitten with a side of pure love.”

5. “I didn’t hear my daughter get out of bed one morning, came downstairs to this…”

6. “A random stray walked up and nose-booped my son, welcoming him to the neighborhood.”

7. “Daddy/daughter/dog brother Sunday nap snuggles”

8. “My daughter and her sheep love each other. ♥️”

9. “My 9-year-old daughter and our Maine Coon kitten”

10. “My daughter and her new baby doll, a.k.a. our new puppy.”

11. “This is my daughter and my granddaughter, being adored by their feline friend, Harley. She is a very loving kitten and is taking a real liking to my daughter’s adorable daughter!”

12. “My daughter wanted to nap with her puppy.”

13. “My daughter reading a story to our kitten…”

14. “My daughter’s trip to the zoo today”

15. “The look on my daughter’s face when I told her she gets to adopt a kitten for a surprise birthday present”

16. “This is my son’s dog who sits with him while he’s online learning. Students can see her in the frame, lol… Waiting for the teacher to get annoyed. The dog rubs herself all over his face for pets. She might see the dog more than my son!”

17. “My daughter decided to take our kitten for a walk!”

18. “6-month update: our daughter and her best buddy”

19. “My kitten cuddled up to my 2-year-old daughter. ❤️”

20. “One of my twin daughters cuddling with my sister’s 10-month-old Dogo Argentino puppy!”

21. “My very happy 4-year-old daughter holding a box of 8 kittens”

22. “He would fall asleep all the time as a puppy, and my daughter would lay with him till he woke up.”

23. “My daughter said, ‘I love you’ for the first time yesterday, of course, it was to the cat!”

24. “My 9-month-old puppy protecting my 8-year-old step-daughter while she sleeps in the car”

25. “I love being able to see how happy my daughter is to have a cat again.”

26. “My daughter tucking in her kitten before bedtime. This is Hendo!”

27. “My daughter and her best friend”

28. “My son always texts to say he’s on his way home. So I open the door, letting his 17-year-old cat and 16-year-old doggo know that he’s on his way. This is them waiting for him. Thought it was adorable and wanted to share.”

29. “Adopted our first family puppy today. Found my 2-year-old and puppy like this on day 1 — I think we found a winner!”

30. The way he stares at the baby is pure love!

“Just a boy and his dog. We adopted Bash in Feb 2020 when his family got too busy traveling and couldn’t handle his breed’s energy. He’s been great with our 4-year-old daughter but we weren’t prepared for how obsessed he’d be with our newborn son.”

How do you think the presence of a pet influences children’s development? How was your relationship with animals during your childhood?

Please note: This article was updated in April 2022 to correct source material and factual inaccuracies.