Saddlebags for Dogs?

[207-12A]

I have a 18 month old German Shepherd that is my hunting/hiking buddy. He’s in great shape and is ready to carry some of the load on our multi day trips. Does anyone have any experience in this category? Looking for bag recommendations and pack weight vs. dog weight percentage. He’s 65-ish pounds so I was thinking 10-15 pounds total pack weight.

 

[yeti14]

I've used this one for years. Its convenient that the saddle bags easily come off and you can use the harness independently. I actually use the harness way more than the bags, pulling the dog over windfall, up steep rock faces etc. The bags did seem to be sensitive to balancing, but I imagine it's the same with them all. Weight wise, I was told to start at 10 percent and slowly work up and see how they do.

Palisades™ Dog Backpack | Durable Multi-Day Backcountry | Ruffwear

The Palisades Pack puts the deepest of backcountry within reach for you and your dog. Our highest-volume pack, it's designed for multi-day treks with roomy saddlebags that host a cross-load compression system for stable, comfortable gear carry. The saddlebags attach securely to a breathable...

ruffwear.com

 

[motts]

We have a Ruffwear pack for our little dude (70lb Shepherd Mix), it's a four pocket model, orange in color. I don't know how much it usually weighs when loaded, but would guess it's less than 10 lbs, and I beleive 10% of their total body weight is the recommended max load. The pack really doesn't hold more than two days worth of food for him plus maybe his flea and tick comb, collapsible bowl and, occassionally, flip flops for me and my wife, so it would be hard to make it weigh too much more anyway.

When we first got it, we started out with him wearing it empty, then moved to putting rolls of toilet paper in it so he would get used to being wider than normal, and gradually increased the weight from there. He loves wearing the pack becasue he knows we're going on an adventure whenever it comes out and gets loaded up.

Aside from not making it too heavy for them, you really need to make sure it's very well balanced side to side or else it will shift all over the place on them. I always need to make multiple small adjustements whenever we hit the trail to get it sitting properly and settled in. Good luck!

 

[motts]

Looks like I was wrong about max load - I followed Yeti's link after I posted to see what pack I have (the approach), and they recommend no more than 25% of their body weight.

 

[jhm2023]

I use the Ruffwear approach on my ~50 lb. GSP. I make her carry a 1L platypus bottle of water, collapsible bowls, food, a small fleece blanket, small ace wrap, and a little bag of bleed stop in case she breaks a nail. I put each day's worth of food in it's own Ziploc and use those to help balance the weight out. I would guess its around 10 pounds maybe less. She handles it well and we've done upwards of 20 mile 2-3 day trips that way.

 

[seldomseensmith]

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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[quaka_wacka]

I’ve used the Ruffwear. My chessie seemed to overheat pretty easy wearing it in the summer but it worked well snowshoeing.

 

[tmwtrfwler]

I’ve used the Ruffwear. My chessie seemed to overheat pretty easy wearing it in the summer but it worked well snowshoeing.

Glad to see another Chessie owner on here. Best dogs in the world.

I've thought about a bag for my dog but worry about heat too..... would be nice to have him carry his own food and water though.

 

[87TT]

Shawna always carried her bed and food.

 

[Graves14]

The By Land Podcast just did a whole episode about backpacking with dogs. Really worth a listen!

 

[GotDraw?]

Horses and mules sweat. Dogs don't, they can only pant. It is easy to overheat a dog by covering their bodies and working them.

Dogs are also not the best for packing, it has been a good while since I read up on it, but I believe their load limit is more like 10% of body weight. If true, for that amount of weight, I personally would not bother. I'd rather any dog I had had a good time running around

 

[Blockcaver]

I’ve had packs for our Vizslas and put elk meat on them. Probably 20% of body weight with no ill effects and they learned to love going and packing year after year. I don’t take them backpack hunting as it is hard as a solo bowhunter. However last yr I helped my buddy out on a successful Stone sheep back pack archery hunt. I took care of his Pudelpointer when he was on a stalk. The dog packed some food in and helped with meat on the way out, probably 15% of body weight on a 2-1/2 day pack out.