Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
by Ted Kerasote
Published by Harcourt
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Reviewed by Edith Knehans
The relationships we build with each other are sustained over time through both verbal and non-verbal communication. We build rich layers of relationship through our interactions with each other. It is part of the human condition to be, well, human.
The act of relationships doesn’t stop with the human element. We build relationships with our natural and animal counterparts in some of the same ways we do with each other. Animals, however, hold a different fascination for us. By the very nature of our communication with them, we have to connect more intensely with their abilities to communicate.
Merle’s Door gives great insight as to what it takes to make a best friend, a confidante, and an equal partner in life. Kerasote exposes the rich emotion of the ties that bind us to our beloved canines, with an intellectual twist. He explorers the nontraditional notion of “letting a dog be a dog”; that is to say, by rigidly applying dominance and authority over our four-legged pals, they cannot achieve their full potential as canines. The dog merely becomes an extension of our thoughts, desires and actions–and limits the personality development of the animal.
Kerasote presents Merle’s memoir in a way that not only evokes emotion, but also educates us as to the history and development of the dog throughout time. He has spent decades adventuring through the wilderness, respectful of what nature offers and how we need to respect the offering as responsible humans. Many of the years Kerasote spent in the wild were with Merle; in fact, that is how fate brought these two soul mates together.
Merle’s Door gives us what many books written about dogs have not: a three-dimensional perspective on the dog as an animal, a companion, and a peer above peers. It also gives us a glimpse into the mind and behavior of the canine, as seemingly told by Merle himself, Kerasote his ghostwriter. Merle can rest assured that no greater honor could be given to a canine than the story captured by Kerasote.
Note: Kerasote’s Out There: In the Wild in a Wired Age, won the National Outdoor Book Award.
Armchair Interviews says: Dog lovers, take your best friend for a walk, scratch his ears, and then read this wonderful story.
Author’s Web site: http://www.kerasote.com