, he needed to think of what would be the outcome of his action. "Unlike the short-signed and rationally limited traveler, he would not have walked without a companion, and most certainly would have built a fire in the correct way" (Bowen). The man did not; he let nature take him over. London described the dog as being, "A big native husky, the proper wolf dog, gray-coated and without any visible or temperamental differences from its brother, the wild wolf" (232). Although the cold forest was native to the dog he still had to respect his owner, the man, to taking the lead into the forest when the dog clearly knew it was too cold for survival. The dog being native to the cold weather has better instinct than the man. For instance when the dog falls in the river trail, he immediately starts to lick his legs and try to get all of the frost off. The dog also knows how to keep himself warm by curling up in a ball in the snow. In the end due to the man's death he knows to strive on towards camp. "The old-timer from Sulphur Creek is the man's major source of advice in the story." From the beginning of the story the old-timer warned the man of the obstacles he would be facing while going in the forest alone with only a dog, but the man still insisted on going along on his journey. At first, as the man was remembering the advice that the old-timer gave him he was thinking how "womanish" he sounded, "You were right old hoss; you were right, the man mumbled to the old-timer from Sulphur Creek" (London, 244), by the end the man wished that he would have listened to him and not been in the situation he was in.