I have family friends who were unable to conceive. They have had border collies all their lives, who were all astonishingly clever (not just "tricks", but just

I have family friends who were unable to conceive. They have had border collies all their lives, who were all astonishingly clever (not just "tricks", but just with intuition etc). These dogs are basically their children. The "child" part of your hypothetical makes it difficult to know. I think they would save their own dog over an adult, however they are both very compassionate and love kids so I imagine it would be difficult to fight that human impulse to protect a child.