Dog Backpacks

[GoudasMom]

I am seriously considering getting Kippah a backpack for when I take her on walks to give her more of a workout thus burning off more energy.

Have any of you used one before?

How hard was it to introduce it and how did you go about it?

Is there a brand you recommend? Not wanting the best/most expensive brand not sure she will even tolerate it.

Any opinions/suggestions/experiences would be great

[2manydogs]

We got one for Raven about 5 yrs ago. She was horrible on the leash and I was tired of my arm feeling like t was being dislocated.

When we started it on her we walked a few days with it completely empty just so she could get use to having it on. We then evenly distributed a bottle of water on each side and noticed an improvement. We did that for about a week and then added another bottle of water to each side. It was night and day! She stayed at our side and was actually enjoyable to walk.

I have read that young, healthy and active dogs can carry up to 25% of their weight. We never went that high, we ended up with about 3 water bottles on each side and Raven did great.

[GoudasMom]

The first time you put it on did she try to bite at it? I know Kippah wont even tolerate a bandana so kind of worried she will freak at the pack

[2manydogs]

She did nose at it and try to remove it but we just kept correcting her and moving forward. She quickly got over it. My girls are use to wearing cloth diapers when they come into heat, so a backpack was just a step up.

[KarmaDestiny]

Great thread. I have a related question on back packs as I think in the future we will try one on the girls.

What age should your dog be to use a backpack?


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[Mgibs]

I have been looking for this post. I am also interested in doing the backpacks. How old should they be to start? And how many water bottles to start w? I'm assuming get them used to the empty backpack first and then start slow. I have an 8 mo old. Is that too young?


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[tguinter]

Good post sue. A friend of mine gave me one for Dually. I thinks it's to small but I put it on her for a walk. At first she was freaked out but by the end she didn't care so I'm gonna keep trying it and eventually do what Kari said with water bottles. We may step her up to one correct for her when she gets better.


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[GoudasMom]

I havent gotten one yet but I really plan to. I was talking to Brad the guy at the shelter who does behavioralist stuff. He thinks it would be great for Kippah. He had to pleasure*cough* of meeting her today. He did give me some tips and said shes dominant...which I already knew *sigh*

[Tracilee014]

Both my adult boxers have one and I put the collapsable water bowls, water bottles, wipes, a home made granola that both the dogs and I can eat, poop baggies, trail first aid kit, handheld emergency kit, you name it. As long as the load is evenly distributed they don't really even notice them. Even on introduction when I first bought them they didn't seem to mind. They just turned to look to see what was there then it was like it wasn't there any longer. I plan to purchase some for the brat pack when they are older and I am not sure what an acceptable age would be for them to begin carrying a load but an empty pack or even one with a smaller water bottle shouldn't hurt.

I have the Outward Hound brand for my adults and I want to say I bought them at PetCo but it could have been PetSmart as well. It was one of the two... I had to buy a large for Patch at 97lbs and a medium for Pumpkin at 67lbs.

[Mgibs]

Do I have to wait til he is at least 18 mo old to start? Or can I start now at 8 mo? I think it'd be a good work out


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