I am not making this journey alone. With me is "Newt," my parent's terrier-like dog. I say "terrier-like" because his pedigree is uncertain. It's entirely possible that there's some bull-mastiff in there, though you couldn't tell by looking at him, or by observing his behavior. OK, so it's really unlikely there's any bull-mastiff in Newt's ancestry. It was just a figure of speech. There's no need to get picky about it.
Newt and I bonded early in his life. I took care of Newt while my folks took care of my father's mother. Then, as now, I kept house rather like a mongrel with no possible hint of bull-mastiff in my pedigree. Newt seemed to feel right at home in my studio apartment in Santa Cruz.
Newt is named for Newt Gingrich, sort of. He's also neutered, so the name could be spelled "Neut," but it isn't. It's just pronounced that way.
Newt is way spun. He watched his nice stable life in Tehama California get thoroughly disrupted as my folks packed and moved furniture around. Then he took a trip in the Honda, which he really enjoys. But this trip ended with my parents disappearing into a strange building. We drove away, never to see them again, as far as he knows. He was glad to see me, as usual. But he has since developed symptoms of separation anxiety. Tonight I left him in my hotel room to get some dinner. He basically freaked out. He was glad to see me again when I came back an hour later.
Another thing tells me Newt is not on his most even keel. He won't eat any of the nice dried or wet dog food I lay out for him. He ate a little chicken from my hand at lunch, and I saved a little from this evening's dinner, which he also consumed. But that doesn't amount to a lot of food. I figure this problem will take care of itself once he gets hungry enough.
Newt is a great passenger. He sits on his blanket in the back seat and dozes most of the time. I walk him in the morning, at lunch, once in the afternoon and as many times as it takes to get him to poop in the evening. That was three times this evening. Not eating has its drawbacks. Since he dozes through the day, Newt gets hyperactive at night. The walks help tire him out.