Making friends is an art that you should learn as a child. But most children these days are never allowed time or privacy to make friends. At best they have "play dates" where they are guided by adults through a carefully supervised activity with a couple of other children.
My children tend to make friends with animals, even when people are available.
When Anoreth was home, she kept picking up Shannon - fourteen pounds of inert, but complaining, fluff - and carrying her around. “You can’t help yourself, can you?”