When you visit my sister, you are greeted by a pack of big dogs, curious and loud and big. Dogs are supposed to bark at strangers, and I had not met any of these dogs before. My sister Jane cannot say no to a dog in need, and she has also become a first-class dog breeder, so there are all kinds of dogs in her huge fenced-in yard. Inside the house, I was sniffed and licked and inspected like a ham in a butcher shop, I was allowed in.