How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
I would have died if not for Cookie. She saw me drop, instantly analyzed the situation, got the team up—she must have jerked them to their feet—got them pulling, and they pulled me out. (1.16-1.17)
In a life-or-death situation, Cookie acted fast. Many people wouldn't have that presence of mind in an emergency.
Quote #2
"You want to hunt?" There, he knew that word. His tail hammered his sides and he stood, wiggling, and moved off along the river ahead of me. (3.28-3.29)
Many of Paulsen's dogs have a pretty good command of the English language. Especially when it comes to words like "hunt" and "Dairy Queen."
Quote #3
I know it sounds far-fetched, but he seemed to study each calf individually, or perhaps he was counting them. (5.16)
More than once, Paulsen catches the collies in the book (Rex and Josh) sizing up a person or animal. He's not 100 percent sure about what they're thinking, but he knows that it's something smart.
Quote #4
I knew then, and I know now, people who would not be able to learn that. I was skeptical that a dog could learn such things […] but by the end of the day I would not have been surprised to hear that Rex had learned to read. (5.28)
Okay, so that's one thing the dogs in this book can't do: read. Then again, it's been a long time since Paulsen actually wrote this book. He's probably taught at least one dog to read since then.
Quote #5
It might be noted here that he had a remarkable memory. Every one of the seven years that he was with us, when the first trick-or-treater came to the door on Halloween, no matter the costume, Caesar went into the bedroom closet, pulled a housecoat over his eyes and would not come out until it was over. (6.64)
Caesar was a huge, clumsy dog that could scare people who didn't know him. Still, he remembered a scare, too, especially if it was it a child in a werewolf costume.
Quote #6
Pigs are very smart—as smart as dogs and many people I have met—and no doubt deduced that if old food is good, fresh food must be better. (7.28)
Paulsen drops a lot of comments about animals being smarter than people. Sometimes you get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he's not a huge fan of people.
Quote #7
I told her, "He might not be the smartest dog we ever got," but with the possible exception of Josh, a Border collie that is now in my life, Quincy proved to be easily the smartest dog I have ever seen. (8.28)
Pretty much every dog in this book is a super genius, Quincy included. Okay, except for Fred, the one who waged war against an electric fence.
Quote #8
When the last ditch was running and too much water was coming—flooding out over the end—Josh studied the situation for a moment, then dug a cross ditch that made the water circle back into the ditch. (9.16)
On top of everything else, Josh is basically an engineer. America's jobs aren't going to be taken by robots. They're going to be taken by dogs.
Quote #9
Josh has come to know dozens of individual words. To name just a few: horse, mare, cow, truck, car, walk, run, bike, Dairy Queen (also the initials DQ), deer, cat, dog, sub sandwich, turkey sandwich, hamburger, pancake […]. (9.23)
Josh has also written a novel and several volumes of poetry. We're kidding, but that list is impressive, no? P.S. It goes on.
Quote #10
Living with Josh is a never-ending lesson in how we can never truly catch up with somebody who is smarter than we are. (9.27)
It's not just that Paulsen thinks Josh is smarter than some people. He thinks that Josh is smarter than he is. Maybe this experience helps Paulsen deal better with people who know more than he does.