In Woodsong by Gary Paulsen, Gary is the leader of a team of sled dogs in a race. Gary and his team of dogs compete in the Iditarod: a treacherous, challenging, and life-threatening track of about 1,100 miles in length. Gary recounts that he began to hallucinate due to lack of sleep on the track (though he persisted, as he was determined to finish the race).

Each of the dogs on the team have their own character traits. Olaf, in particular, is considered to be the fool of the pack, who often acts like an ignoramus. He is certainly not a leader of the pack, and he runs in the back part of the dog pack.

In one instance, his idiotic tendency is on full display. During the bone wars (when the dogs fight over their bones), Olaf gets fooled by Columbia, a more clever and comical dog. Columbia, who captured a bone, put the bone just outside of Olaf's reach in an attempt to make Olaf think that Columbia was offering it up when Columbia was really just teasing Olaf.

Based on witnessing this interaction between Olaf and Columbia, Gary realizes that animals may have different levels of thinking and understanding, and their brain activity seems to be more advanced than Gary previously thought.