Where did Judd come from?

Comment:

Your book Shiloh is amazing and one of my favorites. We just finished it in our 4th grade class everyone loved it. Whenever our teacher finished a chapter we always wanted to read more.We are watching the movie on Wednesday. Some people cried in the sad parts,everyone was scared when Judd came around. How did your come up with the character Judd? How did you make him act the way he is?

Phyllis replied:

Since the dog I found in West  Virginia had obviously been abused, I tried to figure out, and understand, why anyone would mistreat a dog, and Judd is the character I came up with.  Most people who mistreat animals have a history of abuse in their own backgrounds, and that was true of Judd.  If you read the rest of the books in the Shiloh quartet, you’ll find out a lot more about him.