Another related question

The use of toujours is a clue here, and as you say indicates the family still likes/loves dogs. An advanced case use of passé composé - things true in past and still true today. 

Also, the speaker sees the ‘growing up’ in this environment as an event in their life - and it has ended, so also passé composé.

See links for further information. 

In the YouTube clip by Hugo Cotton (in easily understandable French), it is covered about 14 or so minutes in.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rpQ5xeFneg

Thanks Maarten. Would it be wrong to say "Ma famille toujours adorait les chiens"? 

The links you provided are, unfortunately, broken. 

Merci!

Kalpana

Not wrong, but that would mean that the family always used to love dogs, and raise questions of when this stopped and why they no longer do.

Although imparfait can indicate something was ‘ongoing’,  this refers to the ‘fuzziness’ of when it started and finished at the time, but it also indicates that it was fully in the past. 

There are many posts here that suggest something or other should be in imparfait or should be in passé composé, because of one of the ‘rules’. 

However the rules are often descriptors of how the 2 tenses are used, not fixed regulations. French speakers often have a ‘choice’ between using imparfait and passé composé and the choice made depends on context - in other words it conveys meaning. That meaning is not always translated easily to English past tense.

Depending on your learning style, Laura gives good ‘didactic’ information, Camille provides a good understanding and ‘feeling’ for when and how native French speakers use/choose imparfait or passé composé, and Hugo gives clear descriptions and discussion in readily understandable French - great for the confidence to be able to follow (with sub-titles available if needed). 

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/passe-compose-vs-imparfait/

https://www.frenchtoday.com/blog/french-verb-conjugation/passe-compose-versus-imparfait/ 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rpQ5xeFneg

 PS  if the links don’t work (you need to copy and paste most external links from here), try searching Lawless imparfait, French Today imparfait, and Hugo Cotton imparfait YouTube.