Goleden retrievers and pumpernickel sandwiches

I have been at the end of my rope with my golden retriever lately. A few months ago I put him on Craig's List and got seven replies almost immediately. Keith made me take down the ad upon hearing about it. Although Hank is almost unstoppable when he decides he wants to dig out of our backyard, I think he will probably live the rest of his doggy life with us. After all, it would be a terrible message to David and Drew to give away one of our own. They might not understand now, but I don't want them to ever think that when things get rough we just give up.
Hank is a gentle giant and has unending patience with both of the boys. He lets David walk him and will plod along wherever David's three year old whims take them. Saturday he let David tie him to his trike. When I told David this probably wouldn't work, David said, "Oh yes, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can." And my little engine could and did succeed in triking with our one hundred pound dog for a good twenty minutes.
Yesterday, the "Word on the Street" on Sesame Street was pumpernickel. This was a rerun and last time it was on, David asked if he could have some pumpernickel. So today, when we were at the store, we found a loaf. I let David pick out the jelly- he chose squeezable grape vs. the sugar free (non-staining) peach we normally buy. To add to trying new things I let him spread cream cheese on the bread himself and squirt the jelly when we got home. To my delight, David made himself and his brother a sandwich and they ate every last crumb! It really is true that when kids can have "ownership" of a situation they are much more compliant.