For some of us, our pets are just about everything. I tend to minimize my intimate contacts with my fellow human beings, and comments like yours reinforce my decision to do so.
Your pet may seem like everything, until your 14-year-old son drowns trying to save him. That was my only point ... it would be a much greater tragedy than simply the loss of a dog for an innocent boy to lose his life attempting to save an animal.
Like I said ... I am glad it worked out.
I am sure I share in all of humanity’s loss with your reduced contact.
SnakeDoc