Running away from omaha does seem a likely answer. ;) here's hoping I can replicate the feat this weekend. That would be amazing.

Ginger, you meeting Mr. Peabody pinches my heart up in a good way.

I chose my last cats - I knew I wanted a black kitten because black cats are so rarely adopted, and Matilda was the one who walked right up to me and started chatting. Toby was a grey (not gray, definitely grey), wee little thing with a head much too big for his body, who looked sad and lost and already convinced that he was unlovable. So I loved him extra hard, to show him he was wrong, and he was and is and always will be the best cat I've ever had (with Matilda a very close second).

(After I met allergic Hec and allergic Emmett and had to find another home for them, Toby won over the new household with his graceful oddity, and their new human called Matilda the love of her life. They were both such great cats, and Hec helped find them a second home that was even greater and more loving than their first, but not a whit more than they deserved.)

The breeder should be able to tell you what puppies have the personality you're looking for. You don't want one that's too bossy, so you probably won't want the one that charges over to you immediately.

We are planning on relying on Breeder rec. We also know we don't want the most hesitant and scardy dog either. It'll just take time for their personalities to present. We've been talking about how we have such guilt over getting a dog from a breeder, but with Grace in particular we have very specific needs. I wish we could train the puppy to be a working dog for Grace.

we have very specific needs

Then getting a specific breed makes a lot of sense, IMO. I'm normally very in favor of adopting from shelters vs. getting from a breeder, but if you need to know what you're getting in terms of characteristics and socialization, then going to a responsible breeder is the way to go.

I met Jeeves at an adoption show, and fell in love when he wanted to cuddle and didn't want me to let him go.

Finn was probably the eighth or ninth cat I met at the shelter when I went looking for another cat, and he won me over by constantly twining around my legs and otherwise indicating to all and sundry that I was HIS human.

I do think I need to get Finn a companion, though.

I was warned that he was pretty shy around people, but when they brought him in, he ran right over to me and put his feet on my knees.

That's what happened when I went to meet Percy. His owners warned me that he was timid and shy and we might not be able to get him out from under the bed. I arrived and introduced myself, and as soon as he heard my voice, he came trotting out of the bedroom and came and laid down on my feet to be petted. His owners were gobsmacked; he'd never done that before. So he was mine and that was that. I don't know why he acted like he recognized my voice, maybe he's a reincarnation of some being I loved before.

My friend has told me not to worry about her and her kid, that everything will be all right. So I am not going to worry. (mm-hmm) At least I won't talk about it anymore.

Kat you might be able to train the puppy as a working dog for Grace.

I had a couple in the store a few weeks ago with a really cute little service dog. While talking to them I found out the husband had mysteriously lost his hearing in both ears, he woke up one morning and couldn't hear. They already had a small dog so they worked on training him to be a service dog. He wasn't a big dog but the wife said that 1) they hadn't wanted to get a new dog and 2) they couldn't get a big dog anyway because they need a dog they could carry if necessary and they both had back/hip issues that prevented them from doing that.

he woke up one morning and couldn't hear

Wait, what? Christ, here's another thing for me to add to my Hypochondriac's List of Things to Worry About.

those puppies are crazy cute! Franny will squeal when I show them to her

Choice: Work through the desperate need for sleep to finish rewriting these awful award nominations for work, OR, set alarm for 4am, in work by 6am, and do them in the relative peace and quiet of the office before people begin crawling up my ass all day.

Allyson, when I face those kinds of choices, I ask myself which I'm more likely to actually do.