Make Hank proud. Buy gas, it’s the best option for grilling in my opinion. I think Weber is pretty much the standard. Parts available and relatively inexpensive.
My opinion on the pellet grills is they do lots of things ok, but nothing well. They don’t grill like either charcoal or propane...
Losing dogs is tough. My condolences to you and your wife.
As for designer breeds we’ve got a first generation Labradoodle. He’s a great companion dog, he’s always by someone in the house. Probably would have been an ok retriever, I kinda wasn’t that mad at em when I should have been...