You are making me want to re-read these books. The Disreputable Dog is one of my favorite things from the series.

I think people tend to find Sameth annoying from the get-go because he's so opposite from how Sabriel was at the same age. It was refreshing to have a protagonist who didn't angst about their destiny in book one, and I felt a bit blindsided when that angst popped up in book two.