Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Finding a Dog Pack

This was a really sore subject for me, and I think Chase was getting a little annoyed with me about it. The very first thing we bought when REI opened here in Jacksonville, was their REI Ultra Dog Pack. We used our opening day gift cards and barely paid anything for it, so we were happy with the purchase. Until we got it home and put it on her.

She didn’t seem to mind it being on her, but the belly strap was just a little too tight in my opinion. Chase insisted that it should be snug, but i just wasn’t comfortable with it. So I set off to the Internet to find a better option.

I immediately found the RuffWear Palisades Pack and thought that it would be a good option. There was only one problem. Sheila is an Australian Shepherd, so she has a very deep chest, a narrow waist, and a fairly long body. The instructions for fitting on RuffWear’s website are to measure around the deepest part of the chest. And of course, Sheila is 27 inches, right between medium and small. We held off on this purchase for a few months (actually until after we got back from our Nantahala Shakedown) and we ended up going with the small, based on RuffWear’s recommendation.

Sheila, again, didn’t seem phased by the pack, and it fit a lot better than the REI pack. We went for a walk around our neighborhood with just a bit of water in each side pocket. I decided after a lap and a half that this wasn’t my ideal pack either. It tended to slide to one side or another based on which side of me she was walking on. I tried tightening the chest and belly straps more, but it still tended to one side or another. The REI pack did this as well, so I’m thinking it had something to do with all of her fur.

So it was back on the Internet. I have been following along with Jill at A Trail Life for a few months now and reading about their hiking adventure with Rooney, so I decided to try out the Granite Gear Long Howl Pack.


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This has so far been my favorite pack for her. The design is quite different from the Palisades and the REI, and I think it works better for her over all. It is a bit smaller (capacity wise) and it’s a bit more difficult to put on and take off, but the weight is much more evenly distributed. I think we will be able to deal with the decreased capacity, as we are only planning on her carrying two days of food at a time. Our first chance to really test it out is coming up this weekend on our overnight in the Ocala National Forest along the Florida Trail. I’ll be sure to update when we get back.

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