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Living With Wolves Program at Watauga Library July 29

Story by Celeste von Mangan John Quy, professional dog trainer pictured with his dog QueeQuag, will present a program at the Watauga Public Library called Living With Wolves...and Other Tales of the Far North, with his brother Earle Quy.

Jack London’s classic The Call of the Wild so influenced dog trainers John Quy and his brother Earle that they took off for the wilds of northern Minnesota to work as mushers for one of the most famous sled dog trainers and adventurers of our time—Will Steger.

On Tuesday, July 29, the brothers Quy—pronounced Kw-eye—will share their stories of adventure with the public when they present Living With Wolves…and Other Tales of the Far North. The program is part of the Survivor Series hosted by the Watauga Public Library and is coordinated by librarian Evelyn Johnson. The stories begin at 6:30 p.m. in the library meeting room.

“We lived in the far north and ran sled dogs,” said John. “The area was near a population of wolves. This is an oral presentation about our lives in the north woods and includes our real-life adventures on the edge of a roadless wilderness on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”

Having fallen under the spell of the sled dog world and northern wilderness “after reading The Call of the Wild once too often,” John and Earle left North Carolina and met Will Steger—the premiere musher and Arctic explorer—in Minnesota.

“Will hired me as a consultant for sled dog work and we ended up running dogs,” said John. “Earle and I were mushers—our Minnesota lead dog was named Huck. He was featured in National Geographic magazine after Will took him on the historic 3,471-mile Trans-Antarctic Expedition.”

Huck made a name for himself in 1988 when the journey became the longest dogsled expedition in history.

The dogs John and Earle ran for Steger were Canadian Eskimo dogs—now known as Canadian Inuit dogs. Inuit dogs are considered the Sherman tanks of the mushing world. They live to pull, an important trait to possess when both human and canine must endure temperatures that reach well below zero in a vast frozen wilderness where you cannot ask directions if you are lost or retreat into a hotel to get warm.

“One time the thermometer stopped at 52 degrees below zero,” recalled John. “Any time you have temperatures minus 20 degrees below zero, it is painful to live.’

John said wolves were a part of their daily life.

”We were literally living with wolves, having up close and personal encounters with them,” he said. “You saw them all the time, and we also saw coyotes, bear and moose which are really dangerous and they are around all winter.”

And what creature did they fear the most in those vast tracts?

“Mosquitoes were the most dangerous animal,” joked John. “Have you ever been to northern Minnesota in the summer?”

The program at the library will combine three components John loves and lives daily: dogs, books and fun.

“I am surrounded right now by dogs and books,” laughed John.

Home for John, his dogs and his books is on Little Horse Creek Farm in Ashe County, where he is a professional, full-time dog trainer.

“I train real dogs for real people,” said John. “We don’t compete or train dogs for competition. I train the dog you bring in, and the training is meant to be effective and to create a better bond between people and dogs.”

Private courses, in-residence training and train-while-you-board programs are available at the facility.

The Living With Wolves presentation at the library is free and open to the public. For more info, call 828-264-8784. To contact John Quy call 336-384-4399.

Want To Go?

Date: Tuesday, July 29
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Watauga Public Library
Cost: Free