Merle’s Door by Ted Kerasote

Subtitle: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog-- When I first started reading this I was not sure how much I would like it.  There was a lot of history and talk about dog behavior, when dogs became pets and how, analyzing dogs behaviors versus human behaviors.  Some of it was interesting, but I was glad when Kerasote started talking more about his relationship with Merle.   Kerasote came upon Merle at the beginning of a raft trip and they were together for almost 14 years.  There was a free spirit about Merle that was respected and the author learned as much about his dog as he did himself.  There were many great adventures and an amazing bond between them.  At the end of the book I bawled like a baby.   It was very well written and the author really touched on that special relationship between a human and their four legged friend.