Tiny Tok meets her backpack.

55 degrees F this afternoon.

Put mama Mensa up in a crate and leashed baby Tok. Sat in the driveway with her until she stopped flitting around at the end of the leash, a little wigged out because her mama was making such a ruckus in the basement crate.

I showed Tok her empty Wenaha backpack (medium, green, an ebay steal, weighs ~3# empty) (EDIT: it’s a large, not a medium. My bad.) and Tiny Tok sniffed and bounced away. (Why do I keep trying to call this brand a Whinny-haha?) Anyway, she settled, watching me loosen all the straps as long as they would go, chest band, torso band, and belly band. Much too large for her, but that was OK. This is an exercise in patience. Gave kisses but she was not happy with the whole routine. New things happening, mama hollerin’ and why was I sitting in the driveway with this THING?

Food treats were not tempting, so I just sat in the cool sunshine with her until she approached. Gave her smiles and tickles and cuddles and that worked when nothing else seemed to get through.

She froze when I eased the pack over her back. But didn’t bolt. Flight or fight, people forget there’s a third option, freeze. I kept murmuring softly to her and she let me buckle and adjust and tighten. Didn’t want to fumble too much with her while doing it, and the belly band was too far for me to reach without shuffling around, so I just told her how brave she was and eased the thing off her.

She liked that part.

Tightened everything up, locked it in place, and eased it back on her. Again, not thrilled, but stood for it. Frowning a little now, which is a step up from freezing. When I stood, she whipped around in a big circle on the end of the 6-foot leash. But when I went to the gate, she knew what that was all about and clung to my side, head up, watching me closely, What are we doing now? If only we were doing obedience training, THAT’s what I call attention heeling!

We walked down the driveway, the same way we do with mama Mensa when we’re taking a hike. And Yuki and Pax met us at the bottom. Now Tok has no problem with Yuki, loves her to pieces the way she does all dogs, and Yuki loves Tok the same way.

Which come to think of it, is probably why mama Mensa has such a problem with Yuki.

Through the fence, they loved all over each other and Tok’s tail was windmilling, the way a puppy should when meeting her elders. And when we walked back up the hill, Tok was in a happy bouncy trot with her tail curled up.

I removed her pack with much wagging and cooing and when I released her, she bounced into the basement to tell mama Mensa all about it. Mama Mensa darted back into her kennel, following the food scoop and all is right with the world.

And I forgot my camera again, so…