Merle---a special dog

This dog's life makes a touching tale
By Tony Dean
For the Argus Leader
Published: July 4, 2007
Ted Kerasote is one of the best outdoor writers in America. No, let's rephrase that. Kerasote is a great writer who happens to write about the outdoors. The longtime Sports Afield and National Geographic contributor now spends most of his time writing books. His "Bloodties" remains the best book I've ever read on hunting.

But the Wyoming-based author has outdone himself with his newest effort, "Merle's Door." It's a book for every dog owner that is so well done, it's hard to put down.

Your first reaction is that the book is about Merle, a formerly wild Labrador retriever Ted picked up as a stray while on a Utah raft trip. But this is more than a story about a dog. Instead, it's a tale of a man and a dog and their mutual and growing love for one another.

Kerasote makes a strong, logical case for allowing dogs freedom so they learn to socialize with other dogs and people. Of course, there aren't many places like Kelly, Wyo., just north of Jackson Hole, where a dog can travel where it wants without facing a dog catcher seeking violations of leash laws.

Merle, a one-time stray, had learned to fend for himself in the wild, and Ted had quite a time breaking him from chasing wildlife, especially buffalo.

Ted learned that the dog was terrified by shotguns, which may have been the result of getting shot while young. An X-ray showed a small caliber rifle bullet embedded in his shoulder. Ironically, rifles didn't bother Merle. In fact, he often accompanied Ted on elk hunts, where Ted was amazed at Merle's ability to spot elk before he did.

Merle eventually got over his fear of shotguns and even went bird hunting with Ted and others. Though he didn't like retrieving, he did so when Ted lost a grouse in heavy cover.

Merle learned to bird-hunt by hanging with other experienced bird dogs, which Ted offers as evidence that dogs learn from each other. I've been a believer since my dog, Dee, a pointing Lab, learned much while hunting with her mother, Jewel, in Lyman County grass and cropland.

As the years go by, it is apparent that love and trust exist ever more strongly between Ted and Merle, and no matter how tough you are, I defy you to complete the last chapter without occasionally dabbing the tears away.

When Merle reaches 13 (the equivalent of 91 years old in the dog world), time catches up with him. In his final days, he is paid many visits by people and dogs, because he made many friends in Kelly.

In fact, as he made his daily rounds through the small community at the foot of the Grand Tetons, local folks took to calling him the Mayor - a title Merle took seriously, to the point of visiting his constituents daily.

Though you'll think at first Ted seeks to impart human qualities to Merle, that's not the case, though he serves as Merle's interpreter throughout the book. Merle, you will discover, is quite a character, owning a marvelous personality. As "Merle's Door" winds down and Merle passes to where the elk fly, you realize that while Ted Kerasote gave Merle the freedom he needed, Merle gave Ted much more.

I'll be traveling to the Jackson Hole area on a trout fishing trip in August and have a standing invitation for an elk or antelope steak dinner with Ted.

I won't miss that opportunity.

I only wish Merle could be there.

Click here for current weather in Sioux Falls, SD from The National Weather Service.

Great Manitoba Trout Fishing - Bob Sheedy's Page http://go.to/lakeflyfishing

Tony Dean ... Outdoors, Inc. 1013 North Grand Pierre, SD 57501 (605) 224-5104 FAX (605) 224-2977 E-mail for Tony Dean