This is our dog Merlin. He is a Yorkie terrier mix. He weighs ten pounds, and he is about eleven years old. We’ve had him as our family dog for nine eight years.

The Story of How We Got Merlin

The story of how we got Merlin was that my two-year-old son and I were walking back to the car after attending a BabyGym class at the local YMCA when we saw a cute dog in the window of a local dog-grooming shop. We’d often stop to smile at the dogs in the window.

This particular dog was small and black. His nose touched the glass and he wagged his tail at us. There was a sign on the window that said, “I’m shy. Come inside to say Hello.”

We went inside and Merlin came right up to us. He gave a big yawn and bowed to us in a way that absolutely melted my heart.

My previous dog had bowed like that. He had been a miniature poodle named Shanti, and he had died when I was pregnant.

The receptionist told us that Merlin was a rescue dog, and that he was available for adoption. His previous owner had been a teenage girl who had promptly forgotten about him the moment she got a boyfriend, and her single working mother hadn’t been able to manage the dog.

My son and I fell in love with Merlin. We drove back home to see what my husband thought. My husband said that he had been missing having a dog, and he had been secretly hoping that one would cross our path.

The three of us got back in the car and drove to the dog grooming shop. The receptionist took Merlin out of his kennel. My son was a little shy around Merlin. Looking at a cute little dog in the window was one thing, but having a squirming little fur ball run up and lick you is quite another. Even though Merlin was so small, my son was small too. When Merlin jumped up on him, the dog could lick my son’s face.

Merlin walked around between the three of us, and then he climbed into my husband’s lap. I still remember the look on my husband’s face, how he hugged the dog and looked up at me, so proud that he had been chosen.

It took a couple weeks for the adoption papers to be completed, and we needed to put up a fence in our yard. But then we brought Merlin home and he has been part of our family ever since.

Adjusting to a New Dog

The thing about rescue dogs is that it can take a while for them to trust you.

Merlin was only about one or two years old when he came to us: still relatively young, but he had already experienced disappointment and abandonment. He must not have had a lot of experience being outside, because when I would take him on his first walks, he would be frightened of basic things, like leaves or bushes.

It was also an adjustment for my son to have a dog in the house. He was so afraid that the dog would jump up on him and lick him that he didn’t want to be on the floor with the dog for several months after brought Merlin home.

And the process of figuring out how to walk a dog and a toddler on a regular basis was also a bit complicated. But we worked it out eventually.

One of the funny quirks of Merlin was that for years he would run up to new people, wagging his tail and flirting like he was some kind of orphan who’d just spotted his long lost family.

“Take me home with you! I’m all alone!”

Meanwhile, we’d be standing there on the other end of the leash, going, “What about me? Don’t I feed you enough?”

It took at least five years for Merlin to really seem bonded to us to the point where I know he would come back if he got out of the house.

Now he seems to really trust that we are his forever family. He lets us rub his belly.  He climbs on our suitcases and tries to climb into the car with us when he senses we are leaving on a trip.

He is so excited when we come home, even if we’ve only been gone for a few hours. He runs in circles, and hops to be picked up, and when he is in our arms, he presses his whole tiny body against us, licking our cheeks and hugging us with his neck. He is the sweetest dog. He knows now that we are his family and we’ll never abandon him.

Merlin’s Favorite Person

Merlin definitely has a favorite family member, and it’s not me.

It’s my husband.

Right from the start, Merlin has loved my husband above and beyond the rest of us. If Merlin’s love was a mountain, my husband would be at the peak of the mountain — the apex of all humans. My son and I are down at base-camp.

He still loves us a lot. More than the average stranger— probably? —but not as much as my husband.

Merlin will carry my husband’s socks around the house. He will sleep on my husband’s dirty clothes. And when we are having dinner, he will sit under my husband’s chair, leaning against his feet.

When we all sit on the couch as a family, Merlin loves to sit between my legs or my son’s legs. But if my husband comes over, Merlin will scramble out of our laps like we’re hot garbage and wedge himself into my husband’s lap and lick his feet with an urgency that feels almost manic.

It’s become a bit of a family joke, how much Merlin prefers my husband over the rest of us.

I think it’s because my husband is the fun one, whereas I’m the one who does all the mean, routine things — like feed him, walk him, give him baths and medicine, trim his fur, and take him to the vet. My husband thinks he’s Merlin’s favorite because when he first came to our family, I was mostly occupied with caring for our toddler — which was true — and my husband was free to offer all the affection.

Recently, when our son was sad that Merlin didn’t sit with him very often, my husband shared his secret: food. It turns out my husband had been bribing Merlin with dog biscuits for years. Every time they came home from a walk: my husband would give Merlin a cookie. Every time Merlin sat on his lap: cookie. Every time Merlin followed him around the yard: cookie.

My son started keeping dog biscuits near the couch and offering one to Merlin every time he sat with him. Now my son has risen to the Number Two position in Merlin’s heart. Once or twice, Merlin has even jumped out of my husband’s lap to sit with our son… only to return to my husband’s lap a few minutes later. (I think it will take a few years for my son to catch up to all the cookies my husband must’ve given Merlin.)

I think it’s actually kind of beautiful to see how loving and loyal our dog is to my husband. “I’ve never been loved like this,” my husband has said, with awe.

Merlin is the family dog, but he is also my husband’s dog. They are bonded for life.

Small But Mighty

I had never owned a terrier before, so I didn’t know what to expect.

They are loving and gentle and affectionate with family, and very sweet around kids. But when it comes to protecting his family, it’s as if he has absolutely no fear and no concept of how small he is. His audacity has made many animals multiple times his size jump up in the air and flee.

 Terriers were originally bred to hunt vermin — rats, gophers, mice. Even though most of them are small, they have a fierce hunting instinct, and are generally seen as being smart and independent.

This has definitely been the case with Merlin.

It surprises me sometimes how independent he is.

My previous dog was a miniature poodle. Poodles are incredibly empathetic and sensitive to their owners. One could almost say, co-dependent. Poodles want to be with you, always. They want to gaze at you lovingly. If you’re having a bad day, a poodle will come up to you and put a paw on your shoulder or try to hug you, as if to say, “I understand. Let me be your shoulder to cry on.” Poodles can’t bear to be separated and they will literally cry when you leave.

Merlin, on the other hand, likes his personal space. If he thinks we are moving around too much on the couch, he will grumble, shoot us a dirty look, and go into another room in the house to where he can have peace and quiet.

Likewise, if Merlin doesn’t like the fact that I am standing at my desk writing, when I should be sitting down with him in my lap, he will come over and bark at me until I have moved to the couch.

In many ways, Merlin is more like a cat than a dog. He is not here to love us — we are here to love him. Let’s just say, Merlin has a very opinion of himself. He does not suffer from a low self-esteem.

He also has a fierce hunting instinct. Merlin will chase any bird, any squirrel. When we leave the house, Merlin has to be kept on leash at all times, otherwise he would be GONE chasing after whatever rodent, bird, deer, or turkey he caught the scent of. Merlin is so fast, there would be no chance of catching him. And even though he is only about ten pounds, he can leap over fences many times his size.

It astonishes me that Merlin seems to have absolutely no fear or sense of self-preservation when it comes to chasing bigger animals. He has gone after turkeys, deer, and even coyotes. Merlin lunges at the edge of his leash, he growls, he snarls, and he barks his little head off. I have no doubt that if Merlin ever confronted a bear, he would run right up to that bear and do his level best to bite out his throat.

This isn’t to say that Merlin is an aggressive dog around humans. He is incredibly gentle and sweet with people, especially little children. His tail wags, and he is eager to lick. Merlin loves humans, but hates other dogs.

Sometimes, when I walk Merlin and we cross paths with a bigger dog, Merlin goes absolutely crazy. Snarling, lunging, and barking like he’s a little thug with a gold chain around his neck, saying “Let me at him! Let me at him!” I pick Merlin up — utterly embarrassed at his bad behavior — and it’s all I can do to hold onto this struggling little bundle of fur and teeth. Thank goodness he is only ten pounds. Otherwise, there would be no controlling him.

Meanwhile, the other dog might only look at us sideways, as if to say, “What’s up with you?” 

Once the coast is clear, I’ll put Merlin down and he’ll strut away and pee on something like a little gangster who just showed that other dog what’s what.

My little Macho-Chacho.

The Beloved Family Dog

I think out of all the dogs I’ve had, Merlin might be my favorite because of his quirky personality. He has an independence streak, similar to a cat. He wants to be with you when he wants to be with you, and sometimes he would rather be alone. His preferences are very clear, and he is sometimes grumpy if you move too much. But he’s also incredibly loving and loyal.

I’m so grateful that we got him. He definitely completes our family.

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