For the past 8 years now, I’ve been working hard on the lore, planetary dynamics, history, races, flora and fauna of Makundo IV. I wanted to create a world both familiar and alien. A delicate balance to be sure. All the while, however, in the back of my mind, I’ve been struggling with what I should call my company when my books finally did come out. I struggled for years, trying to come up with a name. Nothing seemed to sit right, though, or at least not for long. If I can, sometime in the future, I’d like to put together a video of that journey. Who knows? It might help others navigating that same problem. But finally, after 8 years, I landed on “Jackadoo Productions.”

So… WHY “Jackadoo”?

My wife and I shared 15 glorious years with our dog, Starbuck, a papillon/collie mix who had stolen our hearts. When he crossed the Rainbow Bridge, the house went silent. We didn’t want to rush right out and get another dog after his passing. We felt like that would be “replacing” him, and we just didn’t want to do that. It wouldn’t seem right, and we needed… time. My wife and I agreed to put off owning another dog for an entire year.

Shortly after that year had passed, my wife, unbeknownst to me, had begun scanning the Humane Society’s website on a regular basis. She knew that I loved the brindle-colored dogs, and when she saw a batch of brindle-colored puppies come in, she struck! :-) It was a Saturday morning. She said, “I have something to ask you. You can say ‘no.’ But what do you think about going to the Humane Society to just look at some puppies?” I shocked her with a single word: “OK.”

On the drive down to the Humane Society, I remember we had a long talk about what we were looking for, just in case these puppies weren’t it. I wanted a BIG dog (or one that would grow into a big dog). I was looking for a good guard dog. Also, I knew that with our lifestyle, a high-energy dog wasn’t for us. We needed a couch potato dog. You see, when you mature as an adult, you start looking at your life choices in a more realistic way as opposed to knee-jerk reactions of the heart. So, we knew what we were looking for, and she agreed: Big dog, guard dog, and no high-energy breeds. Check, check, and check! We were ready!

Well, it didn’t surprise me that the puppies couldn’t care less about us when we interacted with them. With puppies of that age, everything is new and interesting… except us. :-) But despite having those realistic expectations, we just didn’t feel that connection with them. Not at all. It just didn’t “feel” right. As the lady walked us around, giving us the tour, and talking to us, we stopped beside one little quarantined cage, a new arrival. The lady wasn’t drawing our attention to the puppy inside or anything; it was just where she stopped to talk to us. She and my wife were conversing, and I looked down to see a beautiful Jack Russell Terrier sitting inside this oversized cage, a puppy of about 4–6 months. When we made eye contact, he got down on his stomach and army-crawled over to me in a positively cute, submissive way. I petted him through the cage, he licked my hand, his tail wagged wildly, and he kept eye contact with me, and... BAM. He had my heart. I can’t explain it, but he did. When I stood up to talk to the lady about what had brought us there, my wife looked down and experienced exactly the same thing I had. He crawled over to her, tail wagging furiously, eye contact, and… BAM. He did what Jack does best: he steals hearts.

When we left the building, neither one of us spoke a word. We silently got into the car, buckled up, and drove off. Finally, I broke the silence by saying, “I know what we said about only getting a large, low-energy dog, but… did you see that cute little Jack Russell?” My wife, much to my surprise, responded with a sigh of relief, “Oh, thank God! I wanted to say something, too!”

Long story short (too late), we called the shelter the minute we got home. I think we had to wait a week (because he was in quarantine), but we got him. And, YES, I’m aware of the hypocrisy (reacting from the heart), but I’ve come to accept it. :-) That was a little over 5½ years ago. During that time, I can honestly say I have never come to love another dog the way I love Jack. He’s the smartest dog either of us have ever had... probably by a lot. He’s the sweetest, most loving dog, too. We’ve really grown into a pack over these 5½ years. We look out for one another. Everyone who meets Jack instantly falls in love with him, and he loves everybody! He is such an incredibly good-natured boy!