Difficult question. I have two top hobbies: Reading, and dog training.
With the dogs, it’s complicated. My older dog is not as active as she used to be, play and training sessions are getting shorter. I still love her to bits.
In general, though, I think I mostly love the process of teaching animals. A dog’s personality is very important to me, for that reason. Though I can appreciate all dogs, there are plenty I am incompatible with. While typing this, there is a crazy Border Collie-mix staring at me. I enjoy spending time with him, but his intense personality can drive me nuts at times – when we’re getting ready for a walk, he gets so worked up the excitement makes him sneeze over and over again. I’ll take a laid-back dog any day!
With reading, it is definitely the action. I am attached to some childhood books, but if I know I will not ever read a book again, I am usually fine giving it away.