Ann Romney: Dog Loved Riding Atop Family Car

Mitt and Ann Romney spoke to ABC's Diane Sawyer for their first joint interview of the campaign, and addressed the Seamus issue in response to requests from viewers. The dog, who was in a carrier strapped to the roof of the family car during a 12-hour road trip in 1983, "loved it,” said Ann. “He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for two weeks."

"But the dog got sick, right?" Sawyer asked about the incident, which triggered a storm of controversy when it was first revealed—and still. "Once, he ate the turkey on the counter. I mean, he had the runs,” Ann confessed. Mitt said the Seamus attacks were the most wounding of the campaign so far, and he wouldn't transport a dog that way again—"certainly not with the attention it's received." Asked if he had a message for President Obama, Mitt warned: "Start packing." A full transcript of the interview can be seen here. (More Ann Romney stories.)