I believe it has been attributed to Bill Murray, "I’m suspicious of people who don’t like dogs, but I trust a dog when it doesn’t like a person."
I think this is why we form such strong bonds with them.
A good friend had a rescue mutt that must have been horribly abused before my buddy got him. That poor dog was really and truly afraid of his own shadow. The only person he would tolerate touching him was my buddy. I have scars from being too close to that dog, so do his kids and his wife, as well as my buddy. Understand the dog was not mean, he was just scared. You could not touch this dog, if you wanted to give him a piece of meat or something, you had to drop it on the floor, he would NOT take it from your hand.
It was 10+ years of this and finally the poor old guy could not get up off his bed, it was time, even though this was one of the worst pets that I had ever come across, in terms of interaction with the people who cared for him, we all shed a tear the day the poor old guy was put down.
I can only imagine David how hard this is for you when you have such a lovely wonderful loving pet like Jack, and you have to put him down. I'm sure you appreciate the time you had with Jack, I'm also sure that Jack was lucky to have all of you guys.
Stu