Thanks for the dog comments. I believe my search has come to an end, but I don't want to jinx myself because I still need to actually go and pick up the pup in Gloucester tomorrow. Don't know about getting a cat and treating it like a dog, but I did actually propose the name Wan (woof in Japanese) to the rest of the family. I thought it was great because the dog is from Puerto Rico and we could work the Juan/Wan angle, but no one else here was biting.
I found the pup on Petfinder yesterday and called then drove an hour and ten minutes to Gloucester, Massachusetts. I got off of 95 at the earliest opportunity and took route 133 through Rowley, Essex and Ipswich into Gloucester. It was the first time I'd even been through any of those towns. Not bad for Massachusetts ;). Lots of trees and old houses and antique shops and once you get around Ipswich and Gloucester it really starts to looks like the town in Jaws.
My oya-bakaism extends to animals, so I'll post puppy pictures once we get the dog home. I'm kind of nervous about getting him because I called back to the shelter this afternoon to check on something about the dog and even though I had come in and been approved this morning, no one had placed the dog on a 24 hour hold for me or even written his name on my application. Hopefully that has been straightened out and approximately 12 hours from now we'll be in Gloucester picking up Pancho from Cape Ann Animal Aid.
On a different note-- couple of incidents today made me realize the small townieness that still exists here. On the way down to Gloucester I had stopped in the Pet Quarters shop in Newington to check out car barriers and on the way back went in and bought some supplies and the guy there totally remembered I had been in earlier and we talked and he helped me get my stuff. Then I ended up going to the post office twice today and that fact was noted and mentioned the second time I was in there. Small circles here. And I just colored my hair a pretty dark cranberry color which probably makes me just that much easier to spot.