A few days ago, our kaboinging Aussiedoodle Sam turned two. Is that fourteen in dog years? If so, he has a lot better adolescent disposition than I did at 14. His bark seems to be a bit less squeaky tenory and becoming more basso-baritone.

Some of you may recall, after a couple year gap, following our 13-year journey with our beloved Labradoodle Jack (2005-2018), we took the new puppy plunge with Sam in early 2021. It proved to be a quick step off into the deep end of the pool.

Jack had grown mellow over the years. We had forgotten a new puppy was like having a new baby. Though affectionate and life-savingly cute from the start, Sam was jumpy, high-energy, nippy-snippy, barky-back-talky to instruction, and yelpingly crate averse.

There were a few days here and there we wondered if we had made a mistake. Besides the above-mentioned challenges, the times I accidentally dropped the leash, Sam zoomed off in near uncatchable doggy-circles. For brief seconds I had caninocidal thoughts. Dianne saved us both with her skillful use of treats and threats.

Mercifully, that Sam took to potty-training fairly quickly did buy him some time. Still, for the longest, it did not seem to occur to him to come when we called him.

Anyhow, we enlisted some dog trainer expert help. Translated: that means they trained us, as much as Sam.

Honorable mention to Three Dimension Dog trainers. Main thing, Sam went to a week of doggy boot camp at Dog U. Among his chums was Gus Richey. There’s been some follow up since then, but that pretty much turned the corner and ‘was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.’

Here are some Sam distinctive traits. Comparison with Jack are not valuative, but descriptive.

+ Sam is an excellent walker – most of the time. Jack and I took turns pulling the other one along.

+ Sam is a calm car rider. Jack was always a bit antsy in the car. Sam has come a long way in crate-love but probably will never be as copacetic in his crate as Jack was.

+ Sam is jump up on folks friendly – we need to work on that. Our line is: ‘he won’t bite you, but he may lick you to death.’ With other folks, Jack was pretty much mellow – you can pet me a couple of times if you must.

+ When Dianne and I come in the door, Sam and Jack are nose to nose in the fast run to greet us like we are the greatest people on the planet, which still can melt my heart, and I never take for granted.

+ Though there is no confusing the two, Sam is gracious when he is still called on occasion: ‘Jack…Sam.’ Jack often got called our kids’ names first before we got to his.

There are three interwoven strands for joy in our God-given lives: grief, grace, and gratitude. No person or pet takes the place of another or takes away the grief of their loss. But by grace, other persons and pets can make their own place in our hearts and lives. And for that, we have deep gratitude.

What's more, the day in and out of loving each other - people and pets - requires an ongoing, long learning curve.