As a longtime dog haver, I understand how sad it can be to lose a pet unexpectedly. They can leave a significant gap in your family, and not having their happy faces around to cheer people up can negatively affect the mood of the home. However, I would not be so naive to say that losing a dog is equivalent to losing a human family member. Losing a spouse or a child is unimaginably devastating. That loss will inevitably change the entire family's lives in the long term and majorly disrupt their lives in the short term. You would have to be highly foolish to act like losing a dog and losing a husband are comparable losses. One widower came to Reddit to rant about her sister, who is making this exact comparison. After expressing her frustrations regarding her sister constantly comparing their losses, her sister stopped talking to her.