Character Analysis
Quincy was a dirty-looking mop dog that, according to Paulsen, "did not look like much of a dog at all" (8.1). Sometimes looks can be deceiving, though. Much to the author's surprise, Quincy turned out to be one of the smartest and coolest dogs he ever knew.
Also, he really loved the ice cream at Dairy Queen. We can relate.
Found abandoned on the side of an Alaskan freeway, Quincy ran away from his original rescuer for no real reason.
[…] Quincy journeyed through thirty miles of wolf-, wolverine-, and bear-infested wilderness on four-inch legs. It's hard to believe he could even get through the swamp grass, let alone the forest and predators […]. (8.10)
Quincy didn't have size, but he had a whole lot of guts.
(That would be the tagline to his movie, obviously. Dear Hollywood, please make a movie about Quincy.)
Quincy came to Paulsen through a series of coincidences. They got along well enough, but when Quincy met Paulsen's wife, it was love at first sight…which, by the way, is actual science.
Throughout their association, Quincy grew on Paulsen himself. "What a dog he was, what an incredible dog!" he writes. "Many animals, even dogs, are predictable. …Quincy always kept us hopping, just trying to keep up" (8.25-8.26). On one memorable occasion, he saved Paulsen's wife from a bear attack. That's, like, Lassie-level heroics.