This always makes me feel not only jealous, but also terribly sad. Because we humans do not live as long as dragons do. And if I knew I was going to die.... I wouldn't know what the dragon would do long after I've passed on, including the majority of the human race...I'd be worried what that male or female dragon could end up in.....So just seeing this, while it's nice and very kind for them to be your very loyal friend eternally, it's just that we humans don't live as long as they do, thus, it would suck if the dragon has to spend the rest of his 800/900 years living on Earth or with the other humans in outer space, by him/herself, without anyone understanding the dragon language or speech he/she mentions or talks about in terms of the modern comforts of the human world, or the struggles in a third world landscape.

Something recommended for dragons is befriending the human's family too

That's another way of doing it, but would the dragon get used to the new generations of the family members of the original owner of the dragon, or would they have a hard time committing to it??

The commitment needs to start before the original companion's death

I see....Otherwise, the dragon would fly off and fins someone else or would they disappear and not be seen by humans ever again??? or something like that.

Dragons are free to leave whenever they can, they are independent at their core. This is just something to make the departure of a human they bonded to less heavy

Ahh okay....It's something to think about, considering I found this to be provoking and well said.