Backpacking dogs

 Since we hike a lot, we have our own backpacks and we like our dogs to wear them on long hikes too so they can carry their own items such as water, collapsible bowls, poop bags and sometimes even food.  

We've had some backpacks for our dogs in the past and my main gripe with them is that no matter how much we tighten the straps and load the backpack evenly on each side the backpack seems to fall off the one side or the other.  Now there are extremely expensive backpacks that probably do work better, but I haven't been inclined to pay upwards of $100 for a backpack when we don't use them all that much.

I found some backpacks on Amazon that got some pretty good reviews and were reasonably priced and decided to give them a shot.  We took them for a test run today.

These ones were easy to fit onto the dogs and definitely stayed in place way better than ones we have used in the past.  

Sisko has previously worn a backpack so he was unfazed when we put it on him, but I thought that Booker might be bothered or confused by it.  Happily, he was immediately fine with it which makes me think it was pretty comfortable, even with a bottle full of water on each side.

Wearing a backpack with some weight in it also gives a dog a "job".  Even if you don't need to carry any supplies, it helps them focus and be less reactive to things around them.  

Booker definitely needs this!  He is the most hyper dog we have ever had.  He is easily overstimulated and distracted and is very high energy which means getting him to focus on us on a walk and stay in heel has been incredibly difficult.  He also is bound and determined to introduce himself to every person and dog he sees.  

So while we will keep training him, of course, this is just another tool to help in our quest to make him a great walking/hiking/running partner.  And now we have some backpacks to load up the next time we head out on a long hike.