RIP Merle - Dec 2012-May 2, 2018

We love you, buddy.

I really don't know how to start this. Our beloved Merle has crossed the rainbow bridge. I held him as his soul left his disease-ravaged body. He just couldn't fight it anymore.

Merle loved giving kisses. He loved barking at and chasing squirrels. He was my Valentine one year. He was afraid of thunder and storms. He was behaved on leashed walks around the property.

One time he ran away with Loretta Lynn for over 2 hours. We delayed a trip because of them. Merle was my buddy.
He was one of the first to take your seat if you left it. "Merle! Get down!" I can hear the girls telling him that when he would steal their spots on the couch.

He was the only dog we had that would chase a laser and boy could he chase it! He would even chase the reflection of your car door in the sun. Many mornings were spent teasing him with the reflection of our front door and the sun.

Merle was kind of an asshole, too. He was the first to bark at nothing. The first to burst out the dog door to chase invisible people off our property, thus causing the other dogs to erupt as well. More than once, our neighbors have threatened to "kill that dog" when he would chase their dog off our property.

If he were still here he would be out in our yard soaking up the sun with the rest of his buddies. Instead, I wait for my brother and cousin to come help bury him. Sometimes life is unfair.

For more on Ehrlichiosis and Merle's struggle, please read and upvote my post here. I don't normally ask for upvotes but we now have vet bills that must be paid.

Thank you.