Merle's Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog

by Ted Kerasote

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARDA moving, insightful love story about the vast possiblities of the relationship between humans and dogs.While on a camping trip, Ted Kerasote meets a Labrador... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151012709
• ISBN13: 9780151012701
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 398 Pages
• Weight: 1.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Like a wall made strong with love Merle's 'Door is a classic you will want to share

I fell in love.Merle's Door brings all those moments shared between those you loved. It a great journey that like an old friend you never want to say good bye.

Merle’s Door was touching & informative.

I chose the book as a HS graduation present, having read the book years ago myself. What touched me most was how the author Ted Kerasote & his dog Merle developed a cooperative relationship. The author has another book published more recently, but it is more of a picture book, not serious reading.

An Inspiring Story of Companionship and Love

I can count on my hands (maybe one of my hands) the number of books I've read which I was compelled to read again, immediately after finishing it. "Merle's Door" is one of those rare books. Of the thousands of books I've read, this is one of the very best. It is a truly inspiring book which explores more than the relationship between one person and his dog. It offers insight into how profoundly rewarding a deep bond between any two souls can be, whether those souls are of the same species or not. It has lessons for all of us. Ted Kerasote is an excellent writer. He's also a wonderful story teller (which is a different and higher talent) with a novelist's crafty way of drawing the reader compulsively on to the next page, the next incident. But he also has a fine sense of insight and a wonderful loving way of describing Merle, his friend and companion for almost twelve years. "Merle's Door" is one of the best tales I've read of the very deep bond which is possible between a human and another animal. Not everyone is lucky enough to experience this bond, even during a long lifetime. In fact I believe that few of us are fortunately enough to experience the depth of it - and as a person who has helped to train others to train their own dogs, I think that most people don't even have an understanding of how deep and how rewarding that bond can be. Maybe one has to experience it first hand to truly understand it. Kerasote's book comes as close as any book I've read, to showing us how wonderful and rewarding that interspecies bond be. It also hints at how devastating is the loss when that bond is broken by the dog's (or other animal's) inevitable passing. Kerasote, an outdoor adventurer and writer, and Merle, a lost and semi-wild two year old labrador mix, found each other on one of Ted's rafting trips. The book tells of Ted's evolving knowledge and understanding of Merle, and of their deepening friendship and mutual love for each other. This story is told in such an endearing and evocative way that even if the reader doesn't agree with everything Kerasote believes, reading the book is a very moving experience, even an ennobling one. As I read, I realized that I loved Merle's story - but I could not categorize the book. Was it simply a history? An instructional book? No, it was neither of those. It's a tribute to Merle, a memorial of the relationship Merle and Ted shared, but it's more than either of those. I finally decided that if it can be categorized at all, it is a love story. Ted's descriptions of Merle himself, of Merle's activities, and of the tender moments between Merle and Ted are set forth with such love that I doubt they could have been written without the author's feeling of love and loss as he wrote. Kerasote's "discovery" with Merle was, he believes, that dogs must be allowed to live independently if they're to reach their maximum ability to learn. He believes that almost all of us infantilize our dogs by keeping them on leash, in fe

Are you a Dog Lover?

I heard this book suggested on a call in talk radio station and ordered it the same day. It is a MUST READ for ALL DOG LOVERS. Not only is it a story about a man and his dog such as is Marley and Me...but it combines insightful knowledge of how dogs communicate with us and other dogs. I will keep this book and make sure all my friends read it as well. Mr. Kerasote is a very lucky man to have known Merle. My only caveat is if you are an animal lover or PETA member disturbed by hunting...then skip it.

Wonderful Story Masterfully Written

"Wow. What a book." These are the words that I breathed out when I reached the end of Merle's Door. Ted Kerasote is to writers what Mozart is to composers. His writing is that good. If he were to write about how the grass grew in his yard over summer, I have no doubt it would be a page-turner. But that's not the story he wrote. This story is so much more. This unforgettable story begins when a big golden dog emerges from the dark to introduce himself to a small group of people camping in the desert. One of those people was Ted Kerasote, and the dog went home with him. As the story unfolds, we are taken on an amazing journey that goes well beyond "a boy and his dog." Good relationships are built on mutual respect, and this relationship was better than most. This book is the story of that relationship. These two were the best of friends, and this account of their life together shows how each grew and learned from the other. Love, patience, and understanding are evident throughout the book. At times, this book is humorous, and at other times it's instructive. But always, it's interesting. One of the lessons Merle taught Ted was that great things can happen if humans will 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. Merle proved this isn't so wise. The problem is that people don't let their dogs grow up. They make the dog into a perpetual child, and then are surprised when anxiety surfaces in the form of behavior problems. But how would you feel if you always had someone telling you what to do, and not letting you make any decisions on your own? This treatment, while often well-intended, disables a person. It disables dogs as well. Ted suggests loving in a different way, one that provides more personal freedom and is less about controlling the dog. He says, "His (Merle's) lessons weren't about training, but about partnership. They were never about method; they were about attitude." The partnership between these two took them on a far different path from one they would have taken if, for example, Ted had decided to make a bird dog out of Merle. Rather than make Merle into something to fit a desire of his own, Ted allowed Merle to be himself. And in so doing, Ted would eventually find his own deep needs met in ways that he could not have predicted. This made for a story worth telling and one definitely worth reading. In addition to providing us with a wonderful story masterfully written, this book presents an impressive amount of science and technical information on a range of subjects. The list of sources runs 15 pages (in small print, at that). Yet, none of this seems out of place. Whether it's a quote from a biologist, an explanation of cognitive maps, or a summary of experiments with dolphins and mirrors, it's all good and it all fits. The wolf research is esp

Even if you have never loved a dog, read this book

First, the cold facts. Ted Kerasote has an uncanny ability to mix the sociology and history of dogs with humans and the very personal story of his life with his extraordinary Labrador mix, Merle, and makes it work like no other dog book I've read (and that's a lot of books). He is such a good writer that it's fun to read science part. But what really makes Merle's Door sing, or howl, is the poignant love story of Ted and Merle as they get to know more about each other over the years. Merle's story as told through Ted, who can put the words on the page since Merle could not, rings so true. When you read this book you are reading the story of two friends who share a life of adventure and love that is simply all too short. Millions of humans have had loving relationships with our canine halves, and never has it been so eloquently distilled in a single volume as this book. Read it, shed some tears of joy, give it to your friends, this is a magical book.

Read This Book

This book is superb. The writing is flawless, the information is solid and the story is powerful. It is funny, unselfconsciously honest and touching, but never maudlin. I didn't want this book end.