Hello all,
With spring approaching faster and faster, I'm planning some backpacking trips for Me, Koda, and other people. I want to get a backpack for Koda so she can carry her own food and water, so...

A. What is a good dog backpack that won't kill my bank account
B. What is the recomended weight for Koda (She weighs in at about 40lbs)
C. What's the best way to get her used to it?
D. When hiking, should I put her eCollar on and let her run off leash while we hike (if the trail allows) or should I leash her at all times?

Your input is greatly appreciated!

I have the outward hound backpack for Kenzi.

https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlf1/v/t1.0-9/12790856_10209323579474449_2524422141342179635_n.jpg?oh=36bcf528be6b927c9b991a07e4bf4e66&oe=574DF47E

The most I let her carry is 10 pounds. She weighs 50 pounds. I think somewhere it's said that they can carry 10% of their weight. Well conditioned dogs can carry more if you work up to it. I don't consider Kenzi so well conditioned that I push her for more. She's in good shape but we don't extreme hike and it's pretty warm here. I like this pack because I can remove the bags without removing the harness if she needs to slide through a tight spot or she needs a break from the weight.

Start by just putting the empty pack on her and walking her and letting her wear it and get used to it, then slowly work up in weight. Put in empty water bottles and go for a walk. Next day throw a little bit of water in the bottles and let her walk with it. do that a few days and then throw a little more in until you work up to the desired weight.

It depends on your terrain with the ecollar vs. leash. I won't allow mine off leash anywhere. I don't trust them. Too much to distract them like critters and such. If you are hiking where there aren't a ton of trees for her to constantly be wrapped around I would long line her. If she is well trained on the ecollar and you aren't worried about her ignoring it should a wild animal like a deer or turkey or such then you might be able to get away with the ecollar.

Tyler - I use the outward hound, too. But I think I bought it too big...oh well, it works for my purposes. I got it when 50% off.



As for off leash ecollar? In your neck of the woods, you have poisonous snakes - do you think you can keep her from pouncing on a snake with just the ecollar?

Thanks! I think you might have shared the wrong picture. The flowers are beautiful but a tad confusing haha

I was reading reviews on the Outward Hound and they said that the bags come off really easily. Is that true?

Amy, That is a good point. I think I might end up packing it just in case but keeping her on a leash for the hiking.
Ami looks so cute in his backpack haha

i would say that the ruffware Palisades Pack is one of the best one with many cool fetchers and has a lot more room. a good stater one is Approach Pack that they make will hold a good amount of item for a day hike. the Outward Hound pack is a good price also and it should have a good amount of room in there. my guy he is usually on leash just for safety and so if he see a squirrel he wont high tail out into the wilderness   .

the maxim amount of weight they can carry no more than 25% of their body weight in the pack. i stated by him caring it empty every other day for a about a week, then started by adding in 6 marbles on each side and took him on short walks with the pack every other day but no more then 3 day out of the week, and i added one more marble every month.

i looked into getting one of those but i wanted a pack that fit the urban trail harness i already had, so i bout the urban tail pack on Alpine Outfitters. it fist any "H" style harness. there is another discussion on backpacks here's the link:
https://www.itsahuskything.com/t7591-backpack-suggestion-and-size?highlight=dog+backpack

tyler.jenkins.125 wrote:

Thanks! I think you might have shared the wrong picture. The flowers are beautiful but a tad confusing haha

I was reading reviews on the Outward Hound and they said that the bags come off really easily. Is that true?

Amy, That is a good point. I think I might end up packing it just in case but keeping her on a leash for the hiking.
Ami looks so cute in his backpack haha

The pack itself separates from the "harness" part of the pack easily.  Held on by velcro...BUT, the rrrrripppp of the velcro spooks Ami something terrible

Blueeyed Ghost had a ruff wear pack of some sort this summer on the Mt Washington trip.  The pack was held on with snap clip, easily removeable.  The advantage of her pack is that the harness actually functions as a harness, the outward hound has no place to clip a leash.  But my pack was only $27 or so, shipped.  The ruffwear packs, I believe are double or more, you would have to check - the most certainly are the standard by which all else is measure, I'm sure.

EDIT: I do have to confess...I chose this one 90% because of the color

Amy, green is ami's color fur sure! (I hate myself for that pun...)

I think I would prefer for it to function as a harness as well. I might try to look on ebay for a used Ruffwear. They sell the Outward Hound ones at the petstore here in town, so I'll have to go look at it.

Ronin, Thanks for all the input. I like the alpine, but I don't have an H harness, so I would end up having to buy one of those and the pack. I probably will end up going with ruffwear. They seem very well made, but shelling out almost a hundred dollars on one is not something I take lightly.
That other link was very helpful in that regard as well. They all seemed to be saying that the OH was a good pack, but not for hiking or anything that will wear it down.

Thank you all for the information! Now I'm going internet shopping

tyler.jenkins.125 wrote:

Amy, green is ami's color fur sure! (I hate myself for that pun...)

I think I would prefer for it to function as a harness as well. I might try to look on ebay for a used Ruffwear. They sell the Outward Hound ones at the petstore here in town, so I'll have to go look at it.

Ronin, Thanks for all the input. I like the alpine, but I don't have an H harness, so I would end up having to buy one of those and the pack. I probably will end up going with ruffwear. They seem very well made, but shelling out almost a hundred dollars on one is not something I take lightly.
That other link was very helpful in that regard as well. They all seemed to be saying that the OH was a good pack, but not for hiking or anything that will wear it down.

Thank you all for the information! Now I'm going internet shopping

There is another one some people from a husky group on fb like...http://www.ctcdoggear-usa.com/#!ctc-dog-gear/c3oe but I've never used it, or any of their stuff.

Amy, I don't think your pack looks any bigger on Ami than mine looks on Kenzi. Maybe we both got our packs too large, but she doesn't seem to mind it. It sits tighter and more stream line to her than any of the ruffwear packs do which is one of the main reasons why I went with this one rather than a ruffwear initially. I didn't like how bulky the ruffwears seemed since we go through some tight spots when we are walking. Along with the velcro there is a front pinch clip that secures the bag to the harness. I think kenzi is used to hers being taken off because she isn't bothered by the velcro sound.

lol, that's funny.

TwisterII wrote:

Amy, I don't think your pack looks any bigger on Ami than mine looks on Kenzi. Maybe we both got our packs too large, but she doesn't seem to mind it. It sits tighter and more stream line to her than any of the ruffwear packs do which is one of the main reasons why I went with this one rather than a ruffwear initially. I didn't like how bulky the ruffwears seemed since we go through some tight spots when we are walking. Along with the velcro there is a front pinch clip that secures the bag to the harness. I think kenzi is used to hers being taken off because she isn't bothered by the velcro sound.

Oh. OK - that's about how Ami's fits - it just seems to take up so much more of his body than some of the other packs. And I forgot about the little clip on top at the front. I want the large saddle bags because I carry a lot of bulky but light weight stuff and I need him to carry MY stuff, too since I can't carry diddlysquat anymore.

Also, I'm working up to the 25% of body weight for load limit -that's what I've read.

i am swamped at work but i have Ruffwear for everything! Look at my hiking post for images. I used cheaper brands and they all fell apart, wish i would have shelled out the money sooner! our RW packs have lasted over 5 yrs now.

We have this one for Anya (Kurgo brand, $45)...I had the Ruffwear and it fell apart after just a few wears--the straps just snapped. And Anya always seemed annoyed at the way it landed on her back. This one has been a champ and I like the extra support it has on the back/spine area.

I never put more than 4 lbs in it; she's 40 lbs. Really, if I put the backpack on her with nothing in it, she still acts very proud that she's doing a "job" and gets tuckered out quickly.

We are admittedly very naughty. When I take her to the town parks (paved walking paths) early in the mornings, I let her off-leash and she is allowed to explore and romp for a little bit. At state parks or wooded trails (or busier times of day), I use this long lead so she can still run and explore but I can keep her out of trouble.

Anya was trained on e-collar but we have since transitioned off of it, if that helps

^ I'm surprised your Ruffwear died! Did you try to contact them for a warranty? I want to say they stand behind all of their products.

I've had my Palisades pack for a couple of years now and it has been bumped, snagged, sogged down by water and mud, and it is still in great condition.

I have no experience with other brands besides Ruffwear but I know some people that have recommended Wolfpack brand packs before as a very well made and lasting pack. http://wolfpacks.com/

Hmm, I think my dogs might be too spoiled. When we hike, I'm the one wearing a back pack

simplify wrote:

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I have no experience with other brands besides Ruffwear but I know some people that have recommended Wolfpack brand packs before as a very well made and lasting pack. http://wolfpacks.com/

I have no idea about quality, but wolfpack does have some interesting products and since they provide a lot of service dog products under their DogCapes product line, I'd assume they have to have some degree of quality.

I highly recommend the Wolfpacks Banzai. I've had mine on tons of hikes, and it looks brand new. Great construction, and well thought out.