I’ve been a professional dog trainer my entire adult life, which means I’ve spent decades loving, teaching, and learning from dogs.

And of all the dogs I’ve known, Jack Jack is… different.

He’s one of my three personal dogs. Jack and his sister Violet are Chinese Crested Hairy Hairless dogs. Our third, Sadie, is a Shih Tzu and the queen of the household.

Jack was born deaf. He and Violet were separated briefly at about eight weeks old—and without sound to anchor him, he started screaming.

Loud. Constant. Unfiltered. Think pterodactyl meets toddler meltdown.

Since he couldn’t hear himself, there was no “off switch.” He just wailed. At the time, Jack had already been adopted. But three days after he left, my friend (his breeder) called. “They can’t do it. He’s been screaming non-stop.”

I told her, “Bring him back.” He screamed for four more days straight at my place. All night long. Not out of rebellion—but because he was scared. Imagine waking up in a world where you can’t hear anything… and you feel completely alone...even when you're not.

But then, he settled. He attached. He began to trust.

No Teeth, No Volume Control, All Heart.

Today, Jack is probably the cutest dog I’ve ever had. His tongue hangs out because he has very few teeth to keep it in. And while he still screams from time to time, we know that's just part of his personality.

He's loud. He's weird, in the best possible way.

Jack reminds me every day that behavior always has a reason—and that sometimes the hardest dogs to love at first become the ones you can’t imagine life without.

More Stories Coming Soon… I’ll be sharing more Jack and Violet tales here. Partly to practice my storytelling voice. But mostly because these dogs? They’ve earned their screen time.