"it's a bad moral choice, there aren't enough rewards for nuking megaton! you can get all those caps easy in the lategame! if you try to turn burke into the sheriff instead, burke kills him and he drops one of the best assault rifles in the game early!"
You forget if you wring the puppies neck he drops midtier loot right now. But you can't get the golden ending unless you pet ALL the puppies, it's total bullshit.