As far as dogs go, I have one. Glad you went to a shelter not a pet store though, rescue something opposed to support the poor quality breeding of dogs (backyard breeding and puppy mills really do damage through over population and what is effectively 'poor quality control' of our canine companions.
Here is my pooch. I Pembroke Welsh Corgi, and a handsome devil at that.

I too am allergic to cats, but if I want something to sit around my house and sleep, poop in a box, and eat my food... I would get a rock and skip the last 2

Contacting G&L is something I can relate to. I had wanted to see if a few non standard list things could be done in my order. They could be for the most part (in a roundabout sort of way), but I could not contact the company. Some dealers would not even call G&L to ask unless I told them I was committed to buying from them! Some help there were.
My dealer however was fantastic, he probably had to call them 4-5 times for me ( see about no pickguard, stainless frets, if I could get a ASAT special deluxe w/ swamp ash top and body, see if they could do an arm cut on the front). But in the end he never begrudged it and was very quick on the turn around. I bought from him more for the excellent service I received, than the best price I found. As long as your dealer is willing to go the extra mile, I don't know if a "good ole' George" is necessary, but it would be an asset to anyone who does not have one of the 'good' dealers. Craig does a fair job patching us up though, even though it is not his job formally

I buy new. Not that I do not like used instruments, it is just typically I get an idea what I want in my head, and am inflexible. Therefore it can rarely be sated buying used. I could have bought an ASAT Special NEAR identical to what I orderred for about 900 used on Ebay. But I had already done most of the leg work with the dealer, and out of respect for his time gave him my business. All it was missing was the nut iirc, even had locking tuners.