There is no guide to grieving the loss of your pet! Everyone goes through different stages at different times. I still get sad, but I also think of our good times together. There are so many beautiful memories of his life with us; I’m grateful for each one.

The house has been very quiet over the last month. Kudo was our entire world, and everything revolved around meeting his needs. Over the last 2 years, Brad and I both put some of our own needs on the back burner to focus on Kudo. We spent tons of time traveling for Kudo’s care and researching canine cancer and senior dog needs. For a year and a half, our kitchen counter became covered with Kudo’s supplements and medication.

It is hard to believe that Brad and I have been together for 21 years and have always been driven through recreational activities. As Kudo aged, we cut back on recreational activities that became a challenge for him and focused on activities that fit his needs. In 2018, Kudo was injured, and it caused his back right paw to twist out, and his paw became flat. Once the initial injury was healed, Kudo showed no signs of slowing down. However, we cut back on trail running to protect him and focused on walking, hiking, and short runs.

If we had the choice to do this all over again, we wouldn’t change a thing. Every day and every memory we created was worth any sacrifice that we made.

Well, with that said, the house was just too quiet without a dog. Over the last year, we have followed many dog sites, humane societies, and rescues. One of the dogs we were watching was Luke Skywalker in North Carolina. We decided to adopt Luke, a 5-month-old puppy weighing 50 lbs.

Luke is a beautiful black-and-white dog, intelligent, and a very fast learner. Luke has been home with us for 2 weeks and is adjusting to his new forever home. At a young age, Luke was pushy with his litter mates; due to this, Luke was put into a separate foster home from the rest of the litter. Luckily for us, this separate foster home ended up being our friend’s cousin. She might have pushed us a little bit to bring Luke home, but since her cousin had a trip planned to come home, he offered to give Luke a ride from North Carolina to New Hampshire. We hit the jackpot with this little guy, and he is perfect for us.

Meet Luke Skywalker

Luke’s foster is terrific. He worked hard to socialize Luke while teaching him some of our favorite activities at a young age. While Luke seems like he would be thrilled just lying in his bean bag, he already has some pretty neat skills. Luke loves to fetch, play with his toys, paddleboard, swimming, and his latest adventure is skateboarding. Luke puts both front paws on the board, pushes with his hind legs, and then jumps onto the deck to ride away.

At five months old, Luke is fully potty trained. His commands are sit, touch, paw for right paw, mitten for left, and down for lay down. He now has all of his adult teeth. Working on leaving it and, of course, learning our boundaries.

To my surprise, giving Luke his first bath was pretty easy. I used a lick mat with suction cups on the back of the tub. Luke and I sat in the bathroom for a few minutes, preparing for the tub, eating cookies, and slowly stepping into the tub. Once the water was off, Luke remained in the tub, finishing his peanut butter off the lick mat.

We tested and sent out a DNA test from Embark which we should receive the results soon. Any guesses on breeds??