I felt that rather than a character the paw print and hand print are symbolic of a bond. It also removes gender from the logo making it appealing to more than one demographic.
I really really like #46 - the font is just funky enough and the colors are great. What about bolding the Teacher's Pet part? I thought #1 popped a little more, but I love the new font. So far, this one is at the top of everyone's list...I have a feeling this is the one we'll end up going with. I'm not sure how this site works - do you ultimtely send it in a vector format and a black and white version? Sorry if I'm speaking pre-maturely about that!