The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Mountainsmith small dog backpack. Has anyone ever used anything like this, I thought this might be good for carrying water etc for Aussie when we go camping or hiking. its on sale $29.93 reg $45. any thoughts/ comments welcome http://www.rei.com/product/787813?cm_mm ... 1b2166c2c0

We bought a doggie backpack for our black cocker, Dillon. It came from REI. It is not the one you have the link to but it is similar. His is yellow, gray, and black with 2 pockets on each side. It is called REI Adventure.
We got it for him to use on walks sometimes. He does pretty good with it. We pack their water in it. My husband likes to pick and say we should write on it, Dillon is Reid's (my chocolate cocker) personal assistant because Reid is so laid back, mellow, and does things sometimes only when he wants to. Sparkie (my Black & White Parti cocker) and Reid does not have one.

Wouldn't water make it heavy on his back?

???? if it was two small bottles of water it might not be so bad the rest would go in our back packs

We have 2 water bottles that we only fill up half way with water. I put one on one side and the other on the other side to balance it out. It is not that heavy at all. That was what I was concerned about when I first got it. I did not want to put alot of weight on my cocker's back.
Dillon, our cocker we got it for has a high energy level and my other 2 cockers are low to medium level. I call him the athlete of the family. We do not use it on all of our walks. It does help some and it did not make him exhausted. I don't have sandbags so I thought their water bottles would be good and I get to take it out to let all 3 of my cockers drink alittle water while we are outside walking and taking a break or at the end of their walk.
I have read and heard that some vets and dog trainers recommend them.

I have a backpack for each dog. I got them from here: (wow the price has gone up a lot since I got mine )
http://www.ruffwear.com/Approach-Pack?sc=2&category=13

I got the small at first and while it fit Jasper's girth, the bags overwhelmed his body so I exchanged it for an XS and love it. We have worked up to them each carrying half a liter of water on each side. Plus you can keep spare bags/leash/ect in there.



Yes, the puppies climbed up here themselves, my husband just went and sat with them to get them to stay still for a picture.

Putting water in is one of the main recommended uses for the pack. The info ours came with had plenty about the right level of weight for your size of dog, how to tell if it's too much and so on. A gentle but noticeable amount of weight is ideal--After all, getting the dog to carry some weight is the whole idea! It is physically and mentally challenging and helps tire the dog out faster, and also can give a dog a sense of purpose and having a job to do, which can help greatly with boredom and behavioral issues.