Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog, Ted Kerasote

"You need a book, and I'm it."

This unforgettable story begins when a big golden dog emerges along the San Juan River at the same time Ted and his river-rafting friends are camping in the desert. As the story unfolds, we are taken on an amazing journey of Ted and Merle’s life. At times, this book is humorous, instructive, and heartwarming. It provides the reader with a wonderful story, masterfully written with impressive amounts of science and technical information on a range of subjects related to man’s best friend. In telling Merle's story, Kerasote explores the science behind canine behavior and evolution, weaving in research that bond human and canine together, with musings on the way dogs sees the world.

This is true love story of Ted and Merle as they grow over the years. Merle's story, as told through Ted, can put Merle’s words on the page, "You need a dog, and I'm it." When you read the story, you gather that Merle taught Ted that great things could happen if humans change their behavior, instead of always trying to change the behavior of their dogs. The prevailing wisdom is that dogs must be trained and molded a certain way, and treated as though they have no independent powers of judgment. Ted suggests that owners provide more personal freedom and less about controlling the dog. Merle learned the ways of bison, ground squirrels, his dog pals and coyotes, and then taught Ted the fullness of his experiences including hunting, town politics, and life in nature.

This is a story of a deep, life-changing friendship that few of us have ever experience in our lives. It is a love story, and a tale of life's deepest lessons, told with such high spirits that the reader cannot stop reading until the very end. The epiphany begins when Ted installs a dog door to the trailer in his office. Merle taught Ted that a dog can develop to his full potential, when allowed to make his own decisions. Merle developed a life of his own, patrolling the small settlement where they lived with his dog companions. I only wish I could provide my dog with a mountain range teeming with wildlife, a town full of friendly people, and dogs to romp with off leash.

With this story, you'll laugh and cry, and you will learn a thing or two, and you'll likely be left ready to have a better relationship with your dog. A must own for anyone who's ever lived with, lived near, seen or even heard about dogs. Read it, shed some tears of joy, and give it to your friends, as this is a magical book. "You need a book, and I'm it."