How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The last thing I saw as I went under was Cookie's head swinging up from sleeping and her eyes locking on mine as I went beneath the surface. (1.13)
Cookie the sled dog was so loyal that she rallied her team to save Paulsen, who had fallen through thin ice and into freezing water. Paulsen's convinced that she was acting out of loyalty to him and not just instinct. He would have died without her efforts.
Quote #2
This book is dedicated to her memory. (1.19)
Paulsen dedicates the book to his dog, Cookie. So we can see that her loyalty was returned many times over.
Quote #3
Every morning Ike was there. I'd come across the bridge, start down the river, and he'd be there, waiting. (3.42)
Ike and Paulsen form a fast friendship hunting together in the woods. Though Ike wasn't Paulsen's dog, he showed up every single morning so they could hunt together then he'd take off when they were finished. Paulsen learned years later that when Ike took off, he was looking for his owner, who was in combat in Korea. Once the soldier came home, Ike disappeared from Paulsen's life for good. Paulsen was Ike's buddy, but he wasn't his "person."
Quote #4
I got wounded and lost the use of my legs. When I came back from the hospital he was waiting there and he spent the rest of his life by my side. I would have gone crazy without him. (3.57)
Ike must have gone back home every single day to check to see whether his owner had returned. He never gave up, even after the man had been gone a whole year.
Quote #5
He followed me to school, waited for me, followed me to the bowling alley, waited for me. He was with me everywhere I went. (4.56)
Dirk and Paulsen may not have been friends, exactly. Still, Dirk followed him everywhere like he was Secret Service and Paulsen was the president.
Quote #6
His heart was truly broken. He sat by the door all that day and all that first night and when it was apparent his owner was not coming back right away, he lay down with his nose aimed at the door and waited. (6.18)
Caesar was so loyal to his original owner that he went on hunger strike for six days. Do most people deserve that kind of loyalty from their dogs? After all, Caesar's owner moved away and didn't take him with him. We'd bet that Paulsen would never do that, no matter how inconvenient it might be.
Quote #7
He loved me, he would play with me, he would talk to me, he would consider me, but if she was around I simply ceased to exist. (8.26)
Quincy only has eyes for Paulsen's wife. She's his person.
Quote #8
I told her, "He may run off." He never left her side. (8.28)
Oh, by the way, Quincy was so dedicated to Paulsen's wife that he attacked a bear to save her.
Quote #9
He is loving, thoughtful, wonderfully intelligent—frighteningly so, at times—and completely and totally devoted to the person he views as his master. (9.2)
The phrase "views as his master" hints at Paulsen's relationship to Josh. He doesn't consider himself Josh's master, even if Josh does.