The puppies thing make me very very sad. I've heard about it before and find it positively atrocious. That's why I adopted mine from the Humane Society - it's the only way I feel right about doing it (other than taking a puppy from a friend whose dog just had some).

Ah, I know what you mean about being touched, too. It's weird with me. I hate people getting into my personal space unless I have made it positively clear it's ok. On the other hand, I communicate through touch a lot, so I am very aware of myself so that I don't touch strangers or even friends who have not explicitly shown it's ok with them. But yeah. I have a friend(ish) who jumps around my neck every time she sees me, and I'm definitely not down with that. :S