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No, I’m not referring to my husband; I’m talking about Mr. Magoo, my 16-year-old pug.
He’s a pretty decent traveler. The first part of our latest trip is a good example. He didn’t lift his leg in the hotel hallways, didn’t bark and explore the room, but stayed in his own bed without much coercion. Feeding time wasn’t a problem. Dick had taken out the back passenger seat of our vehicle and placed a large plastic boot holder on the floor where we fed Mr. Magoo,
For all of his 16 years, while in the car, Mr. Magoo either sat in my lap or hunkered down on the console and frequently jumped from one to the other.
However, this year was different. The old dog’s hind legs have lost a lot of strength, and he couldn’t move as he wished.
But I was optimistic as we began on our journey. The day was pleasant and sunny. I placed a blanket on my lap. Dick set Magoo on it. (Mr. Magoo can no longer make the jump into the vehicle), and we set off.
Trees were turning green, and as we drove into Missouri, I was delighted by the sight of glowing white dogwoods scattered throughout the trees. Magoo napped. He wasn’t interested in the scenery.
We hadn’t traveled any longer than half an hour when Magoo began fidgeting. He tried to stand up., but my lap didn’t provide that much space. He was forced to sit. I held him. He tried to swing his hind legs to reposition. And almost fell on the floor.
I took a firmer grip of his front legs. That was when the wrestling match began. He wanted to move. I wanted him to stay put. The battle went on for the next two hours and only got worse.
By the time we reached the hotel, I was wild-eyed and desperate. I will credit my husband for having the common sense for coming up with a new idea. The next morning, he suggested we place Magoo’s bed on the back seat floor and see how that went.
We did exactly that. We set him in his bed on the floor. Magoo never batted a bulgy pug eye but plopped down and slept for the next three days of traveling.
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