Oh, I’m sorry, did you want to weep and whine some more about the horrors of these sweet moments in that loving home?
The relationship between these two is normal and healthy, and loving.
The Palin dog looks happy and well adjusted, my guess is that your pets lean toward neurotic and unnatural.
One cannot make emphatic judgments on how the dog looks as the dog’s face is not visible in the photo.
One ought not automatically assume that a moment is “sweet” or “loving” because one favors a politician.
Pretend that the picture wasn’t of a politician’s child. Pretend you don’t know anything about the dog, the child, the home environment or the parents (unless, of course, you are intimately acquainted with the Palin family and are a regular guest/ friend of the family / relative). What is your reaction now?