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An attack ad from Newt Gingrich is highlighting a trip Mitt Romney made in 1983 with his family and their dog, who came along in a kennel tied to the roof of the car.

The story was first reported in 2007 in the Boston Globe.

Romney, his wife and five sons were on a 12-hour trek from Boston to Ontario in the family station wagon. With little space inside the car, Romney put his dog--an Irish setter named Seamus--in an airtight kennel and mounted it on top of his car.

However, not everything went according to plan.

 “[The oldest son, Tagg Romney] glimpsed the first sign of trouble. ‘Dad!’ he yelled. ‘Gross!’ A brown liquid was dripping down the back window, payback from an Irish setter who'd been riding on the roof in the wind for hours... Romney coolly pulled off the highway and into a service station. There, he borrowed a hose, washed down Seamus and the car, then hopped back onto the highway. It was a tiny preview of a trait he would grow famous for in business: emotion-free crisis management.”

The story has gone viral and has inspired a website dedicated to the incident, as well as a "Hitler reacts" video.