While on a camping trip, Ted Kerasote met a dog--a Labrador mix--who was living on his own in the wild. They became attached to each other, and Kerasote decided to name the dog Merle and bring him home. There, he realized that Merle's native intelligence would be diminished by living exclusively in the human world.

He put a dog door in his house so Merle could live both outside and in. This portrait of a remarkable dog and his relationship with the author explores the issues that animals and their human companions face as their lives intertwine, bringing to bear the latest research into animal consciousness and behavior as well as insights into the origins and evolution of the human-dog partnership. --From publisher description.