Tuesday, October 09, 2007

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

The friendship that man and dog share has always been wondered about. We only know so much. Mr. Kerasote explores this in his book, Merle’s Door. He not only talks about what he gets from his dog but the evidence that backs it up. It is really interesting since I have always thought about having a dog. This book has confirmed it for me. It is truly an emotional book but one that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is amazing how they were even able to find each other in the first place. I loved reading about the journeys that they took together. They had a full life of good and bad experiences.

Mr. Kerasote really gets to the heart of the matter and shows how the relationship is different than most. They learn how to talk to one another and communicate. It takes some time but they also learn how to just be with each other. Their time line for their day is not always the same but they seem to figure out how to deal with things. Mr. Kerasote always lets Merle know that he will come back. It is like working with a child almost but at the same time they truly respect each other. All the research that was presented in this book made me think about my views of dogs. They really do become part of the family.

There were places that were not easy to read when it came to thinking about Merle’s life before he met Mr. Kerasote as well as a few other things but do not want to give anything away. This was a true heart felt book that I really enjoyed! I highly recommend it for all you animal lovers. It is a great book that shows you a different way of looking at things. Merle was quite the dog and I enjoyed reading about his experiences with bison, coyotes, and other animals he met along the way!
416 pages/ Ted Kerasote/New Author/ Chunkster/Non-fiction/ 5 out of 5

This was a great book! I am definitely interested in reading more by this author. Off to read The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly.

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