How come when dogs are codependent

it's mostly considered cute?

Can humans experience transference/countertransference towards pets (their own and others') based on prior human-human relationships, or only based on prior human-animal relationships?

I attend Codependents anonymous and we often call our meeting Codog because we are all nutty dog lovers. I think it is because we are cut from the same cloth...overly loyal etc.

Dogs are a wonderful model for unconditional love and forgiveness. For some it is easier to have relationship with dogs than humans. It is also weird that many sociopathic types have fairly healthy bonding with dogs and none with humans.

Transference and counter transference? ......you bet. That is about the human, not the dog. We can get identified in our mind with whomever caused us pain in the past and we will project that onto any being that triggers the suffering.