Puppies Dogs and Blue Northers Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs book
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Gary Paulsen knew and worked with scores of terrific dogs during his sledding career, but Cookie was as memorable as any of them, a passionate animal with an unbreakable will. She bore numerous litters of champion dogs: natural leaders and indefatigable sled-pullers who saved Paulsen's life many times on runs in the dead of Minnesota winter. Her final litter was fathered by a ragtag hound named Rex, whom Cookie jumped in the middle of a sled run for a quick mating session. After this overture Paulsen could expect a batch of puppies in precisely sixty-five days (Cookie was a dependable gestator), and as he made camp to allow the unexpected romantic interlude to play out, he pondered the nature of love and mating. The act of carnal knowledge is a ceremony of mystery and wonder with nothing artificial in it, simply two creatures acting on nature's prodding to be close. Intercourse isn't dirty and it's not a lustful game; it's the joining of two souls for the miracle of creating kids who are part of both parents yet somehow entirely their own beings. Paulsen writes about his thoughts as he listened to Cookie and Rex: "(T)he sounds were sweet, soft, gentle—not whines so much as terms of endearment, courtesy, and hope. They made me think of all the good parts of living and loving; how two can honestly become one; how we have made it all seem pointless with posturing and fashion and frills but that it is not frivolous, it is as old and meaningful as time, and it has all to do with the one thing that we are on earth to do—to make more, to make better, to bring new things into it, into life." Humans joke about sex and twist it into something it isn't, something vulgar or profane, but in nature the act is sacred, and its unapologetic consummation between two of Paulsen's sled dogs let him see that clearly. Cookie and Rex's unplanned mating led to what happens for the rest of this book.
Cookie's litter was due mid-January, a hectic month for dogsledders in northern Minnesota. Her time came just as one of the worst blizzards Paulsen ever saw whipped across the state, temperatures nosediving to forty degrees below zero Fahrenheit, one hundred below with windchill factored in. Cookie lived with the other dogs in an outdoor kennel and couldn't be brought into the house to give birth—her winter coat was in full bloom, which would make the heat indoors life-threatening—but Paulsen couldn't leave her to have the puppies in the kennel, not in this weather. The sopping-wet pups would turn to ice in seconds. Paulsen erected a crude shelter for Cookie and himself out of straw bales, stacking them in a rounded enclosure like an igloo to keep the braying winds and lethal cold at arm's length. Insulated sufficiently from the elements, Cookie had her litter a few hours later as Paulsen bided his time sitting nearby. Seven warm, gray puppies she tugged from inside herself, miniature versions of the magnificent sled dog Cookie was, but the eighth and final pup was stillborn, dead upon delivery. Cookie and Paulsen both did their best to resuscitate the unresponsive babe, but it was beyond help. With a heavy heart Paulsen attempted to remove the last puppy Cookie would ever birth, but the mother was far from ready to give up on her child. Even as Paulsen continued to try and whisk the dead infant off the scene so Cookie could focus on her other children, the mother's heart would not let her baby go, and she put Paulsen on notice in no uncertain terms that taking the puppy from her would not be tolerated. The lengths she went to in order to guard her deceased pup make for as emotional a story as anything Gary Paulsen has written, and form the foundation of this book. It is sobering and awe-inspiring.
Newborns grow into frisky, happy puppies, and their joy around a farm and a kennel are infectious. An entire chapter is devoted to the blessing of having the puppies around. The older dogs had games of their own they played with the pups, a surprising variety of fun that no two adult dogs conducted in the same way. It's humorous and heartwarming to read, demonstrating the intelligence and creativity of the kenneled canines. Carlisle the quick red dog's game is my favorite, but all of them mentioned in Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers bring a smile to one's face. The adults didn't avoid the pups because they were immature; they delighted in being part of their lives. "All the adult dogs wanted to be visited by the pups—males, females, young and old. They loved the little pack—as they had loved all the puppies we had raised—and they would reach out and try to snag the puppies into their circle as they went by, hooking them with a foot and pulling them in to play and roll, and I could not watch it without thinking of them all not as a kennel or a pack but as a wonderfully happy family with fifty-odd uncles and aunts and brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents." The puppies reciprocated their elders' affection. "The puppies, fat and round and happy, spread an almost consummate joy wherever they went, and if it took all morning they would go to every single dog to say hello and play, at least for a few minutes." The dogs knew they'd miss out on a lot of joy on if they restricted themselves to age-based cliques, and never made that mistake. By playing together and all becoming friends, their kennel was a happier place. And games weren't the only aspect of their interaction. Paulsen tells of the education imparted by the elder generation to the rambunctious young ones, on subjects including how to get food from inside a hard beaver skull, self-cleaning, and singing. And just like human kids, the puppies "learned of love simply because of what they were—puppies—and it is impossible not to love them, even when they are eating your favorite parka that you left on a doghouse for just a minute while you ran to the bathroom." Kids and puppies get into mischief whether they mean to or not, but they learn of love early on because we can't help loving them in spite of their occasional naughtiness. Unconditional love is the model they learn to follow in interacting with parents, peers, and someday their own kids, and the seeds are planted when they're little. There's no more rewarding stage of life than childhood.
Gary Paulsen relates several anecdotes of letting the young dogs into his home when they grew old enough to be curious, and the damage they inflicted inside in the space of a few seconds. Paulsen was in the early stages of training Cookie's pups to be members of a sled team, but he thought it would be good for them to get a taste of life indoors, so he let them in several times in spite of the minor devastation caused during their first romp. As the dogs became comfortable in the house, they eventually passed that instinct on to their own descendants, and having them visit the house every now and again ended up as part of the routine. When the pups were ready to be harnessed to a sled for their first voyage through the crisp virgin snow of Minnesota wilderness, their ecstasy was boundless, and they were almost impossible to control. They chased every animal that popped into view—mice, squirrels, grouse, rabbits, even a moose, a car, and a coyote—but didn't catch any of them, not that they minded. As Paulsen says, "Nothing mattered but the day and the sun and the snow and the celebration of the first glorious run with the young dogs." When you're young and have limitless energy, potential, and ambition, and all you want is to be free and try daring new things and get caught up in the euphoria of life with your friends who are equally excited about testing their strength and talent, it doesn't matter much on any given day whether you accomplished what you aimed to. You were out there giving it your all and being innovative and crazy, and that's what you'll remember about those youthful days beside friends with the future seemingly endless before you like the clean snow of a wilderness sled run, feeling like you can do no wrong. It's a joyous season of life.
On a night early in the pups' training, Paulsen tells of a sled run that started out uncommonly well, but detoured sharply into disaster. When many Minnesota train routes were rendered obsolete by the advent of trucks to transport supplies, the train tracks were removed but the paths retained for dogsledders and other sportsmen to use. The wooden trestles remained to allow passage over lakes and rivers, but once when Paulsen took his dogs on a long run, they ran into a problem halfway across a trestle. The dogs stopped abruptly and Paulsen was thrown from the sled to the snowbank ten feet below, luckily avoiding the unforgiving ice and freezing river. After he collected himself, Paulsen had a big problem: trying to get his dogs to reverse course in a coordinated manner. He decided his best option was to untie them one at a time so they could move independently, but as he did they each ran off into the night, bound for home. Even Cookie, the last dog untied, deserted Paulsen, leaving him with a multi-day journey through heavy snow and bitter cold while hauling his own dogsled. He knew the dogs were only doing as they were taught by racing for home, but that didn't ease his predicament. The story was nowhere near over, though. Cookie was not a typical sled dog, and her response to this trial was as incredible as we've come to expect by now. It's another emotional high point of the book.
The final chapter is called "Last Run", and get ready for a story as poignant as the title foreshadows. Paulsen was concerned when Cookie started limping in recent runs, and consulted a veterinarian. After years as Paulsen's incomparably dependable lead dog, it's arthritis of the back ankles that took Cookie down. She couldn't run sleds anymore, the vet unequivocally said. Paulsen weaned her off life in the kennel and into the main house, where he and his wife had quite a time keeping Cookie under control. She was used to being in charge of her home; why should that change because she was shacking up with humans instead of dogs? At least one unfortunate house cat made a meal for Cookie, collar and all, before Paulsen realized he had to be specific about each individual domesticated animal Cookie wasn't permitted to snack on. It wasn't long before Paulsen received bad health news of his own, a heart condition that would prevent him from ever entering another sled race. Changes in diet and exercise ameliorated his health, but he had to join Cookie in retirement from dogsledding. He tried to sit and relax with her in the house, read books, take notes for novels he wanted to write, and watch television, but settling into a sedentary lifestyle isn't easy for a man and his canine companion who have enjoyed the rush of sledding the perilous paths of Minnesota winter. "I had come to know greater things in my life" than taking it easy, Paulsen says, and being kept from participating in them was difficult. Paulsen learned to hold conversations with his old sledding partner, trying to view their current condition as the start of a new adventure for him and Cookie rather than the end of a legendary partnership. But the love of the run still pumped through Cookie's veins as it did Paulsen's. Even after the other dogs were sent away and the kennel removed, Cookie remembered exactly where she'd stood to have Paulsen harness her to the team, and twice her instincts overrode her new lifestyle and she hopped out of the house and trotted to her old position, proudly waiting to be tied in with the team for a glorious run through moonlit Minnesota night. In her heart of hearts she couldn't accept that she would never again feel the thrill of racing on such a night. And then one day the end was at hand for an old dog who hadn't run the trails in years, and lifelong friends were separated by the part of life's wondrous story that one wishes would not come, the end. Love buried beneath the patch of earth where so many memories were made isn't love ended but deferred, transformed from the physical plane to the realm of vivid memories that will forever hold true of halcyon days enjoyed together, "of when she was young and there was nothing in front of us but the iceblink on the horizon, and I hoped wherever dogs go she would find a lot of good meat and fat and now and then a run." Goodbye is the hardest part of any story, but it can't undo the joyful moments that preceded it. No matter what, those are ours for keeps.
I can't explain how Gary Paulsen packed this much emotion and meaning into eighty-one pages. And Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers features many full-page illustrations by Ruth Wright Paulsen, generally at least one per chapter, which means the story is shorter than the page count indicates. It is a masterpiece, a perfect example for authors who release mammoth tomes yet can't generate more than a fraction of this book's emotional potency. Gary Paulsen is one of the greatest writers of his era, but I still marvel each time he produces a book that touches me this deeply. If you love Woodsong, you're going to want to read Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers. I don't know if I can express how much it means to me, but I've tried my best here. This book is an intense love letter to a way of life and the tempestuous bond between humanity and the wild, and will keep the winterdance alive long after Gary Paulsen is gone. And that, my friends, is a priceless gift.
...more The main characters in the book were Paulsen and Cookie, who were together most of the time. They had a strong relationship and Cookie would so just about anything for Paulsen until she had a litter. After her litter was born she was all about protecting them and when Paulsen tried to take a dead puppy away she growls at him, baring teeth. Some secondary characters are Anthony and Rex who are dogs on the team. Anthony shows intelligence by teaching the pups things, while Rex is the father to the whole litter.
This story takes place through Alaska on the Iditarod Trail. There are many scenes from waking up early in morning and letting the puppies inside, to the day and evening where they train and race on the trail
The major themes that I think are portrayed in this story are love, friendship, and respect for nature. These themes occur within the whole story with Paulsen admiring nature, along with his total respect for the dogs and there close bonds together.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a good morals book that shows the beauty between man and dog. This book can be entertaining to everyone who has even a slight love for canines.
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Gary Paulsen got me interested in dog sledding with Winterdance, which is probably my favorite book. I read it again every couple of years. Another of his books, Woodsong, has some totally amazing stories in it. Especially if you are a fan of his books, this one is another must have to read. It follows Cookie his lead dog, the puppies from one of her litters, and leads to the end of his dog sledding days. Great
Great book. It's only fault is how short it is. I think I read it in an hour or less.Gary Paulsen got me interested in dog sledding with Winterdance, which is probably my favorite book. I read it again every couple of years. Another of his books, Woodsong, has some totally amazing stories in it. Especially if you are a fan of his books, this one is another must have to read. It follows Cookie his lead dog, the puppies from one of her litters, and leads to the end of his dog sledding days. Great details on taking care of pups in a sled dog kennel. Great observations on Cookie. Funny stories of letting a large pack of sled dog puppies into the house. Sadly the book doesn't keep going, and for that reason I won't tag it with favorite, but the stories are good enough to be in that category.
...more I loved winterdance, I read it quite some time ago but it was one of those books you don't expect to love but do. When I saw Paulsen had written another I downloaded it but it's taken a while to get round to reading it! When I did, I couldn't put it down and I've read it in two days flat. Thus is the dogs story, how they are born and grow up as part of this amazing family and in particular Paulsen's relationship with cookie his number one dog. If you love dogs you will love this and I w
Must readI loved winterdance, I read it quite some time ago but it was one of those books you don't expect to love but do. When I saw Paulsen had written another I downloaded it but it's taken a while to get round to reading it! When I did, I couldn't put it down and I've read it in two days flat. Thus is the dogs story, how they are born and grow up as part of this amazing family and in particular Paulsen's relationship with cookie his number one dog. If you love dogs you will love this and I wholeheartedly recommend it. Now I think I will read winterdance again.
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Plot: The plot of the story was when Cookie, "the main female dog" had her puppies. S
Personal Response: I liked the book Puppies, Dogs and Blue Northerners because it was a book about the outdoors. It had many different adventures in it from Canada to Alaska. The guy raised and raced dogs at his house in Canada. He had one favorite dog that had been through everything with him. Her name was Cookie. Cookie was the lead dog that has been through the races and all the training with the young pups.Plot: The plot of the story was when Cookie, "the main female dog" had her puppies. She watched over them and made sure they didn't get out of her sight. When they ran around to play with the other older dogs she'd sit on the top of the kennel and watch every step they took. When they finally get old enough to begin training she would run with them.
Characterization: The main character of the book Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northerners was the owner of the dogs. He was the one telling the story through his point of view. Another main character was Cookie. She was an Alaskan Husky with blue eyes and a thick coat. She was the lead dog on the team and helped keep all the puppies in line while training.
Impacts of setting: The book took place in current day Canada. It went through all four seasons many times but it mainly stuck with winter. The book took place in the woods way back where no one else lived or drove. It told about him working the dogs through a snow covered woods in the pitch dark, the only way he could see was by moonlight. Back in the woods he had to make his own trail to work his dogs.
Thematic Connection: The thematic connection in this book is it is not easy living by himself in the woods, but when he had friends "like dogs" it can make life a little easier on you. Dogs are smart and can be good friends and may even keep you alive. When the trainer was running them through the woods on the trail, someone had taken the plywood off the tracks. The dogs noticed it was gone and stopped before they got into too much trouble.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to any outdoorsman, male or female, because it tells how a dog can save his life and can be a good friend. I would recommend this book to ages fourteen up, because it is a good read and I think everyone would love it.
...more The setting of the story takes place in the woods of Minnesota where temperatures are anywhere from forty to negative one hundred and snow is mostly always on the ground. The main setting is the kennel where Cookie had the litters and where Gary raised them. The moral of Puppies, Dogs , and Blue Northers is never take things for granted. I say this because Gary and his wife Ruth felt as if they did not repay Cookie enough for all of her work.
A positive aspect the book is I really liked this book a lot because I really like dogs and it's a great story being told about the main dog and the owner. Another positive aspect of the story is it teaches you many different lessons. One lesson is to take care of what you have. I say this because the way Gary took care of his dogs could teach that no matter what you should always take care of your things no matter what. A negative aspect is I feel like the story can be taken so much father. I also wish it could have talked more about his family's input with the dogs and their relationship with the many different sled dogs ...more
There was a lot of snow there and you had to get from place to place somehow. Gary didn't like to use snowmobiles, so he had a team of sled dogs. They can get going pretty fast if you don't have a lot of weight on the sled. He thought using his sled dogs
I thought "Puppies Dogs and Blue Northers was a really good book. I don't normally like to read books, but this one wasn't bad for me. This book was interesting because of all the events that took place. It was cool to learn more about sled dogs.There was a lot of snow there and you had to get from place to place somehow. Gary didn't like to use snowmobiles, so he had a team of sled dogs. They can get going pretty fast if you don't have a lot of weight on the sled. He thought using his sled dogs was a better idea. This was how he met Cookie, his lead dog. Cookie had her last litter of pups right in front of Gary. He tried to help her with the pups as much as he could, but one of the pups died. Cookie kept trying to bring it back to life by licking it. She had to retire because she had arthritis in her ankles. She could barely walk, let alone run, with a team of dogs in freezing weather. She went to the doctor and the doctor said to retire her. Gary was a little upset because he had always run Cookie as his lead dog. After a while he wants to retire because he won't run without her so he lets her inside the house with him.
The main or lead dog was named Cookie. She was Gary's favorite dog. She was with Gary for a long time and was really close with him.They ended up becoming best friends for years. Gary was a retired man who took care of many sled dogs.
The story took place in Minnesota in the 1900's. Most parts of the story took place on the trails or by the dog kennels.
If I recommend this book to someone, I would recommend it to one of my friends because it a good, easy book that won't take a long time to read. It's also a good book.
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I like reading Paulsen's nonfiction stories, such as this one, because he's had a lot of interesting wilderness adventures that the average person doesn't get to experience.
I rec
Paulsen is a great story teller. His descriptions of the dogs in his books really brings out their unique characters & personalities. He brings together the joy, adventure, love, and sorrow that occur in life when we share our lives with dogs. I always laugh and cry when I read his stories. They're always very memorable.I like reading Paulsen's nonfiction stories, such as this one, because he's had a lot of interesting wilderness adventures that the average person doesn't get to experience.
I recommend reading My Life in Dog Years before this one because this book expands on Paulsen's adventures with Cookie the sled dog. Cookie is introduced in the beginning of that book.
I don't recommend the first chapter of this book for kids. Perhaps skip over the first chapter if you read it with them...
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Spoiler Alert:
It starts off awkward, then gets sad, then cute, funny and adventurous, and then back to sad. Overall a good read, minus the awkward part at the beginning.
This book is about the author, he going to observe the sled dog, he discover his dog, the dog environment around them and the dogs talk, when he discover this , he like going to a new world
His love for them pours out onto the pages.
I laugh out loud and sob along with him.
also, lovely pictures in this book.
- I started reading his books when my sons were young (my boys loved his Hatchet and Tucket series), and I continue to enjoy his books.
Great storytelling. Vivid and lovely. I wish it were an audiobook. If you like dog sled tales as I do, you will enjoy this one.
Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adve
Although he was never a dedicated student, Paulsen developed a passion for reading at an early age. After a librarian gave him a book to read--along with his own library card--he was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another.Running away from home at the age of 14 and traveling with a carnival, Paulsen acquired a taste for adventure. A youthful summer of rigorous chores on a farm; jobs as an engineer, construction worker, ranch hand, truck driver, and sailor; and two rounds of the 1,180-mile Alaskan dog sled race, the Iditarod; have provided ample material from which he creates his stories.
Paulsen and his wife, Ruth Wright Paulsen, an artist who has illustrated several of his books, divide their time between a home in New Mexico and a boat in the Pacific.
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