My cat's basic reaction is "Jesus! Quit it, will you?" But he doesn't actually do anything to get me to stop, other than yanking his paw away.

I am back from visiting with dogs. Apparently I was supposed to apply online before visiting with the shepherds and their rescue people, but it was nice to talk to people in person and see the dogs. They were really lovely animals, and one of them, the white male, was just the sweetest cuddliest thing. (Except I really want a dark bitch, because white hair! argh!)

So I gave them an application and they'll send someone to see my house and make sure I'm not an axe-murderer or whatever, and confirm that I actually have the space for a dog and am not hiding a mastiff here too, or something. And after that I can put in for one of the dogs, if they agree that the dog and I are a good fit.

... I suspect this is as close as I'm ever getting to the child-adoption process.

They were nice dogs, although rather reserved--I hadn't realized before how single-person-focused shepherds are. I've spent most of my time with really gregarious dogs like labs and goldens, so the cautious attitude of the shepherds was something of a surprise. But still, beautiful dogs, and I love their radar-dish ears.

Shepherds are single-focused to some extent, but they have room for love for many more than one person once they're comfortable. I suspect a lot of the caution you saw was just the uncertainty of all the new people and not really feeling like they have that one person to give their primary love to.

They really are the best dogs ever.

But I should warn you that even very dark Shephers shed a ton of white hair. Their undercoat is generally white or gray, and they shed it constantly. Roomba-ing or swiffering once a day is necessary if you don't want to be awash in tumbleweeds of Shepherd fur.

So guess what ND and I did today? We looked at the kitten rescue kittens at Petco and put in an application for a pair of five-month-old pure black littermates. Pretty little girls! Yes, this would mean four cats in our house. Better than two cats and two dogs, I suppose. We might not get approved anyway, but we just couldn't leave those gorgeous little ones without at least trying.

Oh, Roomba! Good idea, Kristin. I was thinking of getting one of those...

How do Roombas do with fringe on carpets? Can they handle it?

I can't imagine that a Roomba would be great with carpet fringe, but you could just fold the ends under or cover then with something, maybe? It depends how heavy the fringe is, I suppose. Roombas are really good with bare floors and very thin carpets in general.

Consuela, good luck with the adoption process. I'm an adoption coordinator (ie--one of the people who gets to grill prospective adopters) for a Lab rescue group. I've always admired GSDs too. Just ended up with Labs, though, and love their personalities.

Oh, I love labs, too, Bobbi. We always had goldens when I was growing up, and my last dog was a lab-chow mix. But for some reason I'm kind of interested in a shepherd now, although really, if I could find a dark shepherd/lab mix, with more of a lab personality, that would be perfect. However, dogs don't come to order.

I can't imagine there aren't some of those at the shelters around.

Consuela, we happen to have a Lab/GSD mix in my Lab rescue right now. You're a tad far away, though.

Yep, Brenda, if you look hard enough you can find just about anything--purebred or mix--in a shelter. It's so sad.