Given everything the author does, I'm impressed that he manages to pull of such a great story. I loved this story. I love stories about animals that are more than they are now -- ie, Simak's City and the two-fer "A Dog's Life" (I forget the author). And I think we all loved the ghost cat in that recent PodCastle.
When Steve said it would be a police procedural, I worried a bit because those are hit-or-miss for me; I don't watch CSI or L&O, but I like Criminal Minds and Without a Trace, so... *shrug* I guess it depends. But I think I was in the right frame of mind to really like this, having just sat down to start watching "Touching Evil" (US Version) again.
The characterization of the dog was excellent. The plot twist with Captain Mitchell wasn't terribly unexpected, but Mitchell was one of those pragmatic bad guys -- doing a bad thing but for a perceived good reason -- so it made sense for the character.
What I really liked was the difference between a dog and a Dog (for lack of a comparative term). Bull kept referring to non-capped dogs as "just a dog", but he himself was a Dog. It's almost the way many people think celebrities see themselves -- both James Blunt and I are white men, but he's James Blunt and I'm just me. But Bull has a sense of realism to his character -- he has a purpose; he's not a Dog just to be a Dog, but he's a Dog because it makes him a better police officer.
I wonder what breed Bull was. I'm guessing German Shepherd or Belgian Malinois because those are the most common used for K-9 partner dogs, but he could've been anything -- probably not a Mastiff, as they're slobbery and I think Bull would've made reference to that more than just the one time, but I am curious. I also wonder if Bull could talk, or if his barking was just that, and he was interfacing with the judicial computer voice via his skulltop directly -- so when he was yelling "Fuck fuck fuck!" it was really just loud, sharp barking. I like how the author made that ambiguous, so you could really take it however you wanted. At first blush, I thought it was speaking, but upon reflection... he was just barking.
Steve's reading was PERFECT. Absolutely, positively, in my opinion, the absolute best acting I've heard him do since I started listening to EP (and later PP and PC).
I'm afraid that EP170 will be a bit of a letdown after the greatness of this story.
Oh, and by the way, the repetition was great. It really was totally in character. And the title -- sex, companionship, purpose -- really is a microcosm of Bull's existence. Purpose is his baseline -- he would even apprehend Lori if she broke the law in a way he didn't see made sense. But if she's not breaking the law, she's his entire world (except the law) and he loves and respects her. But when sex is on the menu? Well... I'm not a scientist, but the author is, so if he says the pheromones are so overwhelming that Bull's desire to mount Goldie is forefront in his mind even as he's serving the law (his purpose) and Lori (his companion), then I believe it.