Doggy hiking bag?

[babyblue]

I was wondering if anyone who hikes with their dogs has ever used a pack for their dogs? Here is a website for one incase i'm not making any sense:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0007KJL9O/sr=1-5/qid=1113529423/ref=sr_1_5/103-8260468-3125453?%5Fencoding= UTF8&n=3400531&s=sporting-goods&v=glance

Lucas is in good shape, we go for a long walk in the evenings, when it's cooler, and Chloe seems to be in OK shape. I don't intend to go hiking right now since Chloe is still getting over the Parvo, although she is doing much better and her energy is almost completely back. I would also have to get her up to a good condition, so I won't be going hiking for a while. I was just wondering if anyone has ever used a doggy hiking bag and if they had any recomendations?
I want to go hiking up in the woods, where it usually is pretty cool, and take Chloe and Lucas with me. I would have them both on leash and someone else, at least one person, would be coming with me. Lucas has been in the woods before and he actually listens really good. Anyways I just want to hear from anyone that has ever used a doggy backpack about how you liked them. Are they not good? Are they useful? I need to lessen the weight on my back a little.

[Grace Erick]

Ashley, I belong to a hiking site and lots of hikers with dogs have packs for them. No one has ever mentioned them being a problem. No one that I know has really discussed what exactly they put in them, or I didn't really take note since I wouldn't be using one on my tiny chihuahua.

I know at least, you want to keep both sides even in terms of weight, so the dog is not off balance. The question is, how much weight should you have the dog carry. If I can get an idea from the other hikers, I'll get back to you on it.

Bye, Grace

[Rowena Fry]

LOL I'm just thinking that if I ever put one of those things on Gum Gum, she'd probably fall over! She only be able to carry a peanut in each one or something! So funny!

I guess it's like saddle-bags on horses. As long as there's even weight on both sides, you should be all right. Requires a bit of forward planning, especially if you're putting any water or food in there - as it will get consumed along the way so you have to shift the stuff in the bags.

Apart from that, I think it's just a question of getting your dogs used to having something on their back, and then used to having a weighted something on their backs. Shouldn't be too difficult!

Good luck and let us know what happens! I think it's a good idea if you have bigger dogs, let them carry some of their own stuff! LOL

[babyblue]

Ok thank you. I will have to make sure I have the bags balanced. I didn't even think about that so thanks.
About the weight of the bags, I heard it was 1/3 your dogs weight is the maximum? I really don't think they would carry that much stuff. Probably just a few water bottle, food, snacks, and a fold up bowl. If it isn't 1/3 could you tell me? Thanks for the help.

[Grace Erick]

Ashley, I'll check the archives on my hiking site, and if I don't find any info, I'll ask around. I know a few people use packs. I meant to look it up earlier, but I was doing my taxes and found that my state has a new deduction for this year, so I had to do them over.

[babyblue]

Ashley, I'll check the archives on my hiking site, and if I don't find any info, I'll ask around. I know a few people use packs. I meant to look it up earlier, but I was doing my taxes and found that my state has a new deduction for this year, so I had to do them over.

Thank you. It's ok I understand, Ive heard those taxes are dreadful. I'm glad I don't have to do them :D

[Clair Taberner]

i use one for amber. i let her wear it around the house/garden for about half hour a time then after a week lightly loaded it. now she carries the water and doggy bowl quite happily. at the moment i only get her to carry 2ltrs n a plastic bowl and she's totally oblivious to wearing it n carries on as normal:)

[aussiesmum]

ideas about use: http://www.dogscouts.com/backpacking.shtml
here is says carry no more that 10% of your dogs weight: http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_I D=FKDP

The immediate issues that I think of are:
1) water- Aussie gets in it when ever she can and it is good for her to cool off, so we let her (plus, how do we really expect to keep a lab outta water).
2) Breatheability- But as dogs sweat on their paws and mouth, I doubt it is an issue, but I'd take breaks and give your pups a break from the pack.

I also wonder if cecil has had experince with these?

[Grace Erick]

Hi Ashley,

Let me know if you can't get this link when you click on it. It gives ideas on what weight to have your dog use with links. They seem to go kind of high on the weight. For me, I carry one 5th of my weight when I hike, so I'm thinking that would be enough for a dog.

http://thebackpacker.com/trailtalk/thread/37683,3.php

Or if you can't click on it, just type it in for ideas on what to look for in a pack too.

[babyblue]

Grace:
Thank you. That was very helpful. Now I just need to save up the money to buy a pack and then the booties. Then I need to work on conditioning and excercising for me, Lucas, and Chloe (especially Chloe). Then start with the packs, which I know of the perfect place to start slow, flatter hikes. This place near my house has a few nice trails that range from flat to steep. I have two pictures of it. Here they are:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/babyblue5290/hill.bmp
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y66/babyblue5290/hill2.bmp

[Grace Erick]

My hiking site is great. They are great people and very helpful. I've gone hiking with a bunch of them from my state and also OR and British Columbia where we all got together for a group hike. We actually cooked whole chickens on a self made spit over a campfire on the beach hikes that are a little flatter, but you still have a forest with uphill parts to get to the beach. We even collected muscles from the beach and cooked them in butter and garlic. We are big gourmets on flat hikes where we camp overnight. Breakfast are biscuits with sausage gravy, egss, hashbrowns etc.

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in National parks or actually, not allowed on their trails, so we stick to state parks now since we have Capri. I think at one time dogs were allowed, but then people let their dogs chase wildlife and they stopped it. You know how a few people ruin it for everyone. Actually, I was at a campsite and had a dog come into my camp which I didn't appreciate, because if you are eating and don't want to be bothered etc. but what happened was, the dog started growling at me, so I went into the dog's camp and told the girl and she was not apologetic and said she was surprised her dog did that. It's people like that who ruin things for everyone.

Dog ettiquette is to have your dog leashed or controllable under voice command. Some people don't even want to be sniffed by a dog, and I respect that.

I think most of the WA state trails are straight uphill. There aren't many flat hikes unless you are in a local park. I would love to do some long flat trails!!!

[babyblue]

My hiking site is great. They are great people and very helpful. I've gone hiking with a bunch of them from my state and also OR and British Columbia where we all got together for a group hike. We actually cooked whole chickens on a self made spit over a campfire on the beach hikes that are a little flatter, but you still have a forest with uphill parts to get to the beach. We even collected muscles from the beach and cooked them in butter and garlic. We are big gourmets on flat hikes where we camp overnight. Breakfast are biscuits with sausage gravy, egss, hashbrowns etc.

Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in National parks or actually, not allowed on their trails, so we stick to state parks now since we have Capri. I think at one time dogs were allowed, but then people let their dogs chase wildlife and they stopped it. You know how a few people ruin it for everyone. Actually, I was at a campsite and had a dog come into my camp which I didn't appreciate, because if you are eating and don't want to be bothered etc. but what happened was, the dog started growling at me, so I went into the dog's camp and told the girl and she was not apologetic and said she was surprised her dog did that. It's people like that who ruin things for everyone.

Dog ettiquette is to have your dog leashed or controllable under voice command. Some people don't even want to be sniffed by a dog, and I respect that.

I think most of the WA state trails are straight uphill. There aren't many flat hikes unless you are in a local park. I would love to do some long flat trails!!!

People can be such pains sometimes. If they don't want to resposible owners they shouldn't have a dog!! Your hiking experiences sounds like soo much fun!! Where in Wa do you guys go hiking?
I know the national parks don't allow dogs and that just sucks, but I also understand the reasons. Like you said, a few people can ruin it for everyone.

[Grace Erick]

Ashley, the National parks like Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker and the Olympics are a refuge for wild animals, so they don't want them chased down by dogs. All of these three areas where I have hiked and have bear, elk, big horned white mountain goats and other animals that can really hurt your or kill your dog and yourself by bringing the wild animals attention towards you like with a bear or Elk if they are in heat. An elk can club you to death with their hooves. I've seen all those animals named plus bald eagles, heron, pelicans, osprey, marmots, of course deer, and even a white deer in CA on a hike. I'm sure I've left out some wildlife.

I have hawks and bald eagles go over my house, so I can't leave Capri alone in the backyard. Eagles like fish and I've seen them go fishing and pick fish out of the water, but they like things that are dead already too. Hawks are bad and while it is a myth about them carrying off small dogs, they can come down and kill a small pup or chihuahua, but they tend to be about 2 -1/2 pounds, so they cannot carry off a small dog, but can kill it and eat it.

There was an article in the NY papers about how they let hawks loose in the park to get rid of pigeons and one tried to kill a small chihuahua that was leashed. The dog was taken to a hospital and lived.

[Jennifer Hughes]

I'm new to Doggie Bag. I posted a couple of times on Doggie Door and got some great opinions. Glad to be back.

It's wonderful that are you planning to hike with your dogs. I live to hike, backcountry ski and mountaineer here in the Candian Rockies. My dog, Tanna, is also a big fan. She joins me on virtually all trips and never ceases to amaze me with what she will do. She can outlast me on a 20 km/day multi day trip! About the only thing that will tucker her out after a full day is jumping through powder snow while we we skiing (that's a workout). Then she just curls up in my lap on the truck ride home and is recharged for the next day!

Anyways, after much experimentation, I've found that the doggy gear made by Ruffwear is far superior to anything else. Don't worry, I don't work for them, or know anyone who does. Their website is http://www.ruffwear.com
They make wonderful booties that Tanna wears when on really rough terrain and they stay on! I've lost several other pairs in the last few months. They also make excellent packs. If you aren't planning an epic trip, I'd say any pack that fits well and is in the right price range would be fine. The best finding of all is Ruffwear's harness with a lift loop which was designed for search and rescue dogs. It's brilliant if your dog needs to be on a rope for glacier travel or if you need to lift her up when scrambling up a mountain. Absolutely brilliant.

My dog thinks it is her job to find the hiking route and then round us all up and drive away any non-pack members (she's part Border Collie, can you tell?)

Happy Hiking!

[Grace Erick]

Jennifer, are you familiar with the Banff, Jasper, and other areas for hiking? I was wondering if they permitted dogs on all trails there. I want to visit this summer and I will have my dog with me.

In the U.S., you can't have dogs on National Park trails, and in WA that means I can't bring her on trails at Mount St. Helens, Olympic National Park, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Baker. I used to camp overnight on the mountains in a small tent, but now that I have a small chihuahua, I bought a big tent and car camp in some of our beautiful state parks and do state park trails with her. You can actually bring your dog to the visitor's center area, but not on the trails.

Bye, Grace

[Jennifer Hughes]

Grace,

Banff, Kootenay, Yoho and Jasper National Parks are my backyard! I've lived nearby for most of my life and am very familiar with the parks and the wilderness areas outside of the parks. You'll love it!

Dogs are permitted in our national parks on almost all trails as long as they are leashed and you clean up after them. There are some frontcountry trails that are very highly used and I think some of them might have dog restrictions. Any real hiking trail won't be a problem. I don't car camp in the Rockies, but I'm pretty sure you can have dogs in campgounds.

The only thing to think about with your dog is what you will do if you come across wildlife. I've had several encounters with bears over the years (not yet with my dog) and I think it is imperative to have strong recall. I do believe that a well trained dog is safe in the wilderness.

I had the same experience in US National Parks. We just got back from Utah with our pooch, and although we knew it ahead of time, it was a drag in the national parks. I just hate that some people ruin it for everyone. We ended up camping on BLM land and staying in state parks, which were wonderful and much less crowded than Arches NP, Canyonlands, etc.

Let me know if I can offer any more help for your upcoming trip!

[Grace Erick]

Thanks for the info. I was thinking about doing a trip there this summer. As of now, we can't think of another place we'd like to visit besides the Canadian Rockies. We've done Hawaii a few times before we got Capri, but they have a quarantine which seems to becoming lower but if you actually leave w/your dog from Hawaii, they will let you back in w/o a quarantine. We like to snorkel, so that is why we would want to go back to Hawaii, but I see Mexico also lets dogs in w/o a quarantine and I think the U.S.V.I. does too which is so far away from us being in WA and I've been there already and don't want to go back.

With all that your parks have to offer, I wonder what you would think of WA state which I consider one of the best places to live in the U.S. Mount Rainier is spectacular, but I can say that of our other mountains and the Olympics etc. Each place has it's own special sites. I have to say for the 20 min. I saw of the travel channel on the Rockies, I was so impressed. You are lucky to have these things in your backyard.

The same goes for me where I'm about 1-1/2 hours from Mt. Rainier, 2 hours from Mt. Baker, and about 1 hour from the Olympics. I do feel blessed living here and that I decided to do a trip here to check out WA. When I hiked Rainier for the first time, I said that I had to come back here. When I hike there, it's fun and nice to hear the visitors from other states or europe comment on how beautiful it is and even prefer Rainier to their mountains in Germany and other places. Some people are in awe of how Mt. Rainier stands alone as opposed to being part of a range.

The B&B where I stayed, the host said we were lucky to see Mt. Rainier and all I kept hearing it that it makes it's own weather, and when I moved here, I found out how true that is. It can be sunny, but cloudy and rainy there where you can't even see the mountain, so if someone planned to be near Mt. Rainier for just a day or so during their travel, they can very well miss seeing the mountain since it would be engulfed in clouds.

Thanks for the offer for info. I will take you up on that if we definitely start to make plans. I did see dogs on the trails there, so it made me happy that I thought they were allowed. I would love to go to Yoho and Kootney too. I have people on my hiking site that have posted unbelievable pics of the rockies.

Bye, Grace