Backpack
I have a problem. I want to get a backpack for my corgi. I want her to be able to carry her own water, raincover, and first aid kit.
But nothing fits.. Everything that does fit hangs on the ground. Everything that doesn't hang on the ground digs into her somewhere or other. Even if it does fit, it doesn't fit RIGHT. It'll get on and not hang but it's tight here, or tight there, or something rubs where it shoulder. I know I could just go ahead and buy her something that's a little off, but this is something she may wear for several hours, while walking many miles at a time.
What's more, we don't often walk on the trails since we're usually after geocaches, and we love to see the wild up close. We're walking along bayou banks, or through thickets, or between thorny bushes. Didi gets through most barriers like butter, and I don't want anything that will impede her, so the fabric needs to be no-fuss, hard-slick kind of fabric, and everything needs to fit her close.
Has anyone seen a dog backpack like this?
But nothing fits.. Everything that does fit hangs on the ground. Everything that doesn't hang on the ground digs into her somewhere or other. Even if it does fit, it doesn't fit RIGHT. It'll get on and not hang but it's tight here, or tight there, or something rubs where it shoulder. I know I could just go ahead and buy her something that's a little off, but this is something she may wear for several hours, while walking many miles at a time.
What's more, we don't often walk on the trails since we're usually after geocaches, and we love to see the wild up close. We're walking along bayou banks, or through thickets, or between thorny bushes. Didi gets through most barriers like butter, and I don't want anything that will impede her, so the fabric needs to be no-fuss, hard-slick kind of fabric, and everything needs to fit her close.
Has anyone seen a dog backpack like this?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Beth on
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Backpacks are generally built with longer-legged, shorter-backed (in relation to size) dogs in mind. I've seen labs and the like wear them.
With Corgis odd back configuration, I'd be a bit worried about the affect of the extra weight on their spine, even if they are only carrying a pound or two.
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Permalink Reply by Sarah C. on
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It's true that a lot of backpacks that you see at big petstores and walmart and academy lay the weight across a dog's back. Service dog backpacks sometimes fit like this too, for convenience of the person they're helping, but those dogs don't carry a lot of weight in their packs.
That's not what I'm looking for. To my understanding, a high-end dog backpack sets all the weight at the dog's front shoulders so that most of the weight is on the dog's front feet, and not on their back. No dog has a back that should bear weight. I don't think that a proper fitting backpack, made correctly and not overloaded, will hurt my dog, so I'm still searching for that backpack.
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Permalink Reply by Alice on
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I still wouldn't use one personally as it is not just the back but the joints we need to worry about as well and no matter where the pack sits, the joints have to bare the weight, but, that is just my opinion.
If you want to find a quality pack, you may want to check this site:
http://wolfpacks.com/products/dogpacks/
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You can also check out:
http://www.rei.com/brand/REI/c/40003681
http://www.granitegear.com/products/doggear/ruffrider.html
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I have the same feeling as Beth. Due to the Corgis unique body structure, it's important that they never be overweight as that extra weight can cause problems with their back and joints. I think a backpack would be unwise since all it is doing is adding weight.
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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on
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I would NOT put a backpack on a corgi.
I want the dog to run free, light, and fun, keep up with me, and be able to scramble difficult terrain.
A dog backpack adds considerable weight (weigh it -- and all the rest of your gear, too).
The brush impedance alone rules out a dog backpack, I think. I can step over big logs, but Al and Gwyn have to get around or under them, often through thick brush (they get good at this). Just a coupla times helping the dog through obstacles, and you've lost all the energy the dog's load has saved you.
Most of the dog packs I've seen look poorly designed -- they're unnecessarily heavy, wobble, swing, may interfere with cooling and balance. The dog can't complain if it isn't working well.
Backpackers are extremely fussy about their gear, and I've seen maybe only 1 dog backpack that looked like it had had the level of design attention that I look for, and even that one looked unnecessarily heavy (there is a whole subculture of ultralight backpacking equipment, with which I'm only slightly conversant).
I think the weight a corgi can carry is an insignificant fraction of my own load. I've read that a dog can carry 25-30% of its body weight -- for a 25 lb. corgi, 25% is 6.25 lbs, far more than I've ever carried in dog gear -- but take that "25%" figure with a grain of salt; it may not apply linearly over the whole range of canine body sizes -- I'd expect a smaller animal to be able to carry a greater % of its body weight. But you're not going to carry more than 3 lbs. of dog gear, right? I never have -- and I carry ultra-heavy frozen raw meat dog food on 2-3 day trips -- although nowadays, if it's a challenging long trip, I'll splurge on the $20 or so for a weekend's worth of freeze-dried dogfood meat, which has the advantage of lower bear-bait odor, too.
Cooling is a big concern. The only time I have to wait for my dogs is in open terrain with hot sun. They start seeking shade. A dog backpack might considerably affect their cooling (this of course just speculation)
You might consider choosing a good design and making your own copy out of the new ultralight sylnylon materials, but this is what I'd do instead:
Get a good scale, weigh all your gear, and put it on a spreadsheet. Your load will go down immediately, because you'll notice things like how much lighter throwaway PETE bottles are than Nalgene bottles; this knife is 5 grams lighter than that knife; the 4 AA batteries that power my old-fashioned incandescent headlamp weigh 99 g (more than an entire spare LED headlamp). Rain cover? For a corgi? Why? Dog first aid kit? Incorporate that into your own.
Also: look at your dog's collar and see if you can lighten it up; you're asking the dog to lug that thing around all the time. I just recently noticed that Gwynnie's tags hung so low that they bumped into her forefeet at every step for the past 5 years!! A corgi collar does not need to hold a car. Most dog collars seem really massive to me.
Bottom line: close attention to the weight of your own gear can easily save more weight than a corgi can carry.
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