N is for Not Without Me

Baxter has always had separation anxiety. When he was a puppy, I had to sleep on the floor with him until he was big enough to climb on the couch and curl up next to me. Now, he sleeps on the bed, every night. When I left for college, I pretty much dropped him off and didn't come back for weeks at a time. It happened a lot.

Now, every time I pack up a car, he gets this look in his eyes as though he knows I'm leaving. I'm not sure he's accepted the fact that he's coming with me. So when I start piling stuff in the car, he jumps in the back seat if I leave it unguarded.

"Bax, come on," I'll say.

And he'll sit there, staring straight ahead as though he's saying, "No way, man. You're not going anywhere without me."

So then, I have to continue packing up the back seat of the car around him.

He is my wing man, my running buddy, my support system. As though I'd be able to go anywhere without him again. Pssh.