He has been absolutely incredible during this trip, that has been quite an ordeal for him! I know he's getting older, and doesn't have quite the energy he had earlier, but I still think he's absolutely fantastic, and even though I get irritated some times, I am truly very very proud of him!
For starters, I was really nervous going on a train with him. I have done that once before, just after I moved here, and that was not a pleasant experience for either one of us. This was back in 2001 (the fall), so it's 8½ years ago, but the trip was a true terror for both of us. Toward the end of the trip he was screaming at the top of his lungs (not so pleasant for all the other travellers!) and when I tried to stick my hand/fingers into his transportation box to calm him down, he clawed at me like he was insane - luckily I had brought some tissues as I needed them to wipe away the blood from my hands!!I was quite nervous for this trip, and I had only booked a one way ticket because of that - I figured that I'd give it a try once, and if it didn't work out, I'd had to find another way to get home.
And he was incredible! We had to chance trains twice on the way up north, and he was quite upset when we waited at the train stations - a lot of people running around, trains arriving and departing, lots of noise etc. but during the train trips he was a darling!! He made a few noises but managed to calm down quickly and eventually fell asleep! The last part of the trip takes almost exactly 3 hours, and he slept almost the entire time!! I could even get up and use the bathroom, leaving him in the seat, and he was completely okay with it!
He didn't get much relaxing to start with either - and I always feel guilty for exposing him to stress like that, although I know I sometimes have to do it. We arrived on Monday, so that was the big travel day. My dad and my eldest little sister picked us up and we went to their house for dinner. After dinner I drove to the summerhouse (it takes about 1h 15 min), so Zorro was quite exhausted when we got there!
This was Easter week, and on Thursday we both had to go back to my Dad's place, I had intended to stay longer in the summerhouse and visit my families toward the end of the Easter holidays, but unfortunately that didn't work out - so than it was another car ride for Zorro and adapting again to my Dad's house and his family.
I stayed for 2 days, so Saturday afternoon we went back to the summerhouse, and by then, Zorro was tired of travelling, so he did protest quite a bit.
No more travelling for him for quite a while though, which we both appreciate, I think. He was however left alone for about 24 hours, when I headed up to town for the Stockholm trip with my Mum, and my Dad and his family went to the summerhouse the next day. There were some issues involved there as well, and Zorro handled them fantasticly!
When I got back we were all in the summerhouse for a couple of days - it worked out all right, even though it gets a bit crowded and intense at times!
Then there was the trip home! Since the train ride had worked so well, there was really no question about that - we were going to take the train home as well - which was yesterday (yikes, it feels like ages ago!!).
This trip was not quite as smooth though ... A lot of it has to do with the fact that the train stations are very close to each other at the beginning of the trip - so even if Zorro wanted to calm down and try to rest, as soon as he tried, the train stopped, there were lots of people moving around, lots of noises, and then he couldn't relax.
Eventually he fell asleep, mostly due to exhaustion, I think, but when I used the bathroom, he'd woken up and was quite upset.
We had to change trains in Gothenburg, and had to wait about 50 minutes there - and I was quite nervous about that. I managed to get a bench for us (I had quite a heavy luggage as well as Zorro), but Zorro was rather loud and wanted to get out of his transportation box. I managed to get a leash on him (he always wears a sort of harness when we travel), and got him out - and boy was he excited!! *lol*
He kept crawling around, looking at everything - a few birds came by and they were very annoying! *lol* He did "miao" a bit, but not too much and I don't think he disturbed anyone else. Luckily our train came in early so we were able to get on board rather quickly, and even though I hadn't booked a seat (long story) I managed to solve it in a good way!
Zorro really didn't want to travel any more so he was a bit upset, but as soon as the train started moving, he fell asleep and slept more or less the entire way home!! *gasp*
We did take a city bus the last bit of the way, and that was not popular, he was a bit of a handful, but I still think he did amazing considering the day he'd had!!
At times like this, I think it's almost a shame he's an animal, because I would like him to really know and understand how happy and proud he makes me, when he handles everything in this manner. I know I show him that I love him, and given the chance I will give him lots of attention and yummy foods - but I'd like to do something more than that!!
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