This is the photographic equivalent of Lewis Black’s “if it wasn’t for my horse, I wouldn’t have spent that year in college.”
It doesn’t make sense at first, but your brain has to rationalize it so it comes up with a plausible explanation. It doesn’t have the context to know if that’s the right explanation, so while you’re driving to work and going about your day it’s still trying to process this in the background, quietly pushing you toward an aneurism years later.
You’re looking at it backwards. Look at it the ultra-wealthy way: you are the dependent your dog claims on his taxes, but you do all the work and pay the bills. The money just passes through you to accomplish these things, but it’s not your fault your dog can’t read the tax code.