This is a great and very insightful comment, but I find it funny how all your concerns also apply to the challenges many face with care of humans of all sizes (including themselves and their kids).
A lot of people try to get by on one brief walk in the evening to offset 8 hours of abstract/alien and sedentary desk work, while minimizing core human tasks like handling food or physically building things, and then puzzle over why they're so depressed, reactive, or otherwise neurotic. What you saw in your dogs lives is exactly what many people would do well to see in their own.
Totally! What kicked my ass out of deep depression was 1) I finally worked my way up to moving my body up to a daily exercise I enjoy, 2) found a hobby I could periodically enjoy with others.
A lot of people try to get by on one brief walk in the evening to offset 8 hours of abstract/alien and sedentary desk work, while minimizing core human tasks like handling food or physically building things, and then puzzle over why they're so depressed, reactive, or otherwise neurotic. What you saw in your dogs lives is exactly what many people would do well to see in their own.