Our dog, Merlin, is no longer with us and he will be missed. His 15 years of life was full of memorable moments for a lot of people.
In college (1996), I went to the local Humane Society to look at puppies with a friend. Merlin and his brother were 6 weeks old. Without thinking it through, we decided to take him home with us to the fraternity house (where dogs were not allowed). But before we could take him, they needed permission from my Parents. I got a friend on the phone and told him to pretend to be my Dad - it worked!
Merlin was a "legend" at the fraternity. He could catch a frisbee no matter where you threw it and he could somehow recognize all 50+ guys who lived in the house. Any strangers were barked at. He would get so excited when he saw certain people that he would pee a little on their shoes when they greeted him. There are countless "Merlin Stories" from his college years. I returned to the fraternity for a reunion several years after graduating. An undergraduate fraternity brother I don't know proceeded to tell me a story about "a dog who used to live in the house". He was shocked and excited to learn that dog was mine. I wonder if they are still telling stories about Merlin.
After college, Merlin moved with me from St. Charles to Mundelein to Chicago to South Elgin and then to Cleveland. I think we moved about a dozen times and we had about 15 different roommates. He met Norma and her two cats, and we moved in with them after moving to Cleveland. The cats were terrified of Merlin at first but they later became friends.
Merlin was there when we came home with Sofia and Fiona for the first time. He was always gentle with them but Merlin was pretty old by that point and he never had any interest in playing with them. Plus, they mostly just pulled his tail and ears.
Before meeting Norma, Merlin was my best friend and companion. I feel like we had a special bond and there is no doubt he was a special dog. I will always remember how good-hearted and intelligent he was, and I miss him immensely.
I love you Merlin.
Joe
11 comments:
Please share your "Merlin Stories".
My favorite experience with Merlin is one I'm sure Joe has heard me tell people a hundred times. When I lived with Merlin in Mundelein, he had a knack for sneaking out a door that had maybe been left open a crack. He would then sprint at full speed around the neighborhood until he was spent. This could be a while. This one particular time, I thought I had him trapped him in a neighbor's backyard. Of course he got by me. But as he darted through their front yard toward the street, (in my memory this all happened in slow motion) a white work van, probably traveling at about 40 mph, was speeding down the street. I thought for sure this was the end for Merlin. They did not see each other and he ran smack into the side of the van. He bounced off, shook it off, and kept on running. To me, this was Merlin in a nutshell. He could do the strangest, most amazing, or most bizarre things and remain unscathed. He was a legend and he will be missed!
Sincerely,
Jared Kowalczyk
I didn't know Merlin in his early years, but as an old man he loved to sleep. One evening, when Last Vegas crashed at our house, Joe decided to wake him up around 2AM to show him off to Arling. He tried waking him up and when Merlin refused to follow him downstairs Joe grabbed him by the rump and started to drag him while Merlin clawed the floor trying to hold on. Joe finally left him alone after I came to Merle's defense.
We'll miss you Merlin! Rest in peace, had a great time with you at the house in the Summer of 96, even when you ate the paper that Modica wrote for me cause I was that lazy! I can truly say the dog ate my homework. I'll never forget you were just a young pup peeing all over the living room and greeting me with licks when I would stumble home at 2:30 AM after drinking double gin and tonics at COs after a long work day at Ryans:) Take care buddy! We'll see you in another life.
We'll miss you Merlin! I know Rach will definitely miss your incessant whining! I'll never forget the time that Nate kept saying your name in a low, deep voice until you pissed all over the floor! Definitely worth the clean up! Hopefully the bag of "oregano" is completely out of your system, or who knows...you may be forever high! We'll miss you Merle!
Love,
The Hui's
I very best memory of Merlin was one day the phone rings at Joe and I's condo. On the other end was a neighbor that lived about 10 houses up the street. She asked me where Merlin was to my amazement I said I'm sure asleep in joes room. She said can you please check so I got up and looked Merlin was nowhere to be found. I get back on the phone and say I have no idea where he is. Then there was a 10 second pause on the phone she says mike I know where he is......HE'S HUMPING MY POOR LILLY IN THE BACKYARD!!!!!!! I said omg I'll be over in 30 seconds. I get over and just start yelling at Merlin. Then we get in the car and I hugged him and gave him a hi five. He was so confused. I've got 100 stories I could say but that's how I'll always remember him.....just one of the guys.
Merlin I love you and miss you
Mike Macaluso
Joe-
Sorry to hear about Merlin. What a great dog...from Day 1.
I remember when you and Keegan brought him back to the house.
I remember when he ate a half gallon of old mayonaise.
I remember when he used to chew apart your pilot headphones and pull the insoles out of your shoes. You'd get so mad! Remember when I framed him? He peed on my shoes for the next several years.
It's those types of stories that make us all laugh...he'll be missed!
-Dan Beedon
Joe, do you remember the time we pulled a pot roast out of the oven sat it on top. We then left the house for a short time. When we returned Merlin had eaten the whole pot roast string net included. He worked several days passing that string net.
Keep the good memories which are many.
Love, Dad
Ah, the rat story. So Boyd, Gavin, me and Paul are living in this dump on Racine about 8 years ago. I'm talking on the phone outside about 9 pm and there's this rat the size of a racoon sitting on a piece of wood in the yard. I yell at t...he rat to get lost and throw arock at him, but the rat just sits and glares at me with a "bring it, panzy" look on his face. Annoyed with this rat's insolence, I decide to "bring it" in the form of Merlin. I open the door to the apartment and Merlin comes running out, spots the rat immediately, and makes a B-line to it. Merlin then chomps down on the rat, cutting it in half. But not before the rat sinks his teeth into Merlin's leg. So Merlin then has a half-rat dangling from his leg, teeth firmly embedded, and I drop the phone, running in circles and screaming like an 8-year-old girl. I come to my senses and knock the rat off Merlin's leg with a stick. Merlin runs into the apartment, bleeding from the leg, but completely unfazed. Joe, however, is fazed, and rushes Merlin to the dog emergency room. That is how we learned that dogs cannot get rabies from a rat.
Mike Skoglund
Merlin was such a loyal dog to his master, (our son, Joe). Whenever we dog-sat when Joe was out of town, Merlin would watch the door or look out the window almost non-stop until he came back. His devotion was always evident.
My favorite memory was one of the first occasions when Merlin stayed overnight. My husband and I (Joe) climbed into bed and pulled the covers up as usual. Merlin proceeded to jump onto the bed between us and stood looking left to right, left and right repeatedly. After a bit he took both paws in one full swoop and pulled all covers completely off of us and then layed down content he had made "his nest".
Another time was when we had a ground squirrel loose in the house and Merlin and Maggie tried to catch it. Sure enough, Merlin nipped it and we had a "bloody" ground squirrel running around the house. But with his help again, we soon trapped it in the bath room. He was very fast, faster than Maggie and that says alot!
He was a smart and fun dog who will be missed. It was sad seeing him get old and unable to enjoy life. Rest in peace, Merlin.
Nola Boyd
Merlin the Mentor:
I had the wonderful fortune of knowing Merlin for the "early years" of Joe's and my bachelorhood. I remember hundreds of memories of Merlin: the "lost weekend" in which Merlin and Trooper disappeared for a day and a half only to reappear mysteriously from out of nowhere; his iron stomoch that has eaten brownies, chocolate milk, a loaf of bread, 2 week old warm rotten mayonnaise, flies, beer; peeing on a large number of shoes; routinely crapping outside Skoglund's door; peeing on laundry piles; and sending me to the emergency room.
The best part about Merlin was his mentoring of my dog Charlie. Charlie and Merlin lived together in Mundelein for several months in which Merlin taught her how to pee in public locations, dig up carpet scraps, chase flies, eat everything in sight, but most of all how to be a great dog. Charlie inherited all of Merlin's great qualities of a dog such as loyalty, sympathy, stubbornness, empathy and above all else unconditional love.
Lastly, Merlin was the first dog in hopefully a long line of other dogs that will be named after characters in the movie TOP GUN. Long ago, I vowed to Joe that all my future dogs will be named after TOP GUN characters as was Merlin. That is why my dog was named Charlie (She is a civilian, so you do not salute her)and my future dogs will be named in the same tradition. What began as a vow will now be a tradition in the memory of the grand-daddy of them all, Merlin.
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