What does "love" mean to me?

This question is so tough to answer bacause love is the very ambiguous word. Therefore I change the question to easier one, like this: what is the difference between "love" and "like" for me?
We usually use "like" to whatever we feel plesant such as friend, animal or place. On the other hand, we use "love" to what we feel strong attachment such as family, boy or girl friend. I don't say like "Oh, this sleeping dog under the bench is so cute! I love it!". In this situation, I use "like" instead of "love". However, I usually use "love" to my pets.Why?
I think it is because I see what I love as if it is like me and what I like as the other one which is totally independent from me. For example, I would get upset and cry for a very long time if my pet passed away because we've lived together very long time and he is the part of my heart. On the other hand, if I see a dead body of a dog, I'd just feel pity for it. This is just the one case, but I can come up with many another cases.

This is the difference  between what we use "love" to and what we use "like" to, for me.