Recently, we had some rewards points to use at Amazon and there are loads of household goods I would love to get. Naturally, almost everything we ordered was for the dogs. This was partially because we didn’t want to add too much more stuff that could wait until we move, and partially because the boys needed Nylabones and gear to help make beach trips a little easier.
With plenty of days on the lake to come this summer, we decided the boys could use a backpack. They got the Kyjen Outward Hound Backpack in large. Gambit, whose lanky frame hovers around the pack’s lower weight range of 50 lb, could probably get away with a medium while it fits Edwin, who is at the top of the weight range, perfectly. The price was good for a first backpack that will be used to tote dog gear for a mile or less, and the saddle bags are roomy.
Now the boys can haul some of their gear, and things that are used only on lake trips with dogs can find a permanent storage spot in it- long lead, a light towel, a toy, and the collapsible bowl. I had never seen a dog backpack until a couple years ago, but if it means they can carry a few things, I’ll happily use one put one on my dogs.
Clipping a roll of potty bags to the outside means no more digging around or grabbing extra bags!
Gambit was perfectly happy to model his new gear, although he did scare himself by knocking into the baby gate after miscalculating his width while wearing the pack.
Thanks to the treat in my hand, he was making lots of his funny faces. Unfortunately, he was moving too much to capture all of them. His signature face was out in full force, naturally!
One of the neatest things about this backpack is that the saddlebags are attached by strips of velcro. If you need to take the bag off quickly or while taking a break to rest, it can just be pulled off without undoing the buckles.
The portion with the straps ends up looking like a vest with a handle on top once the backpack is pulled off.
We haven’t made our first beach trip with the backpack yet, but the boys seem happy to wear it, so hopefully it will make lake prep a little more smooth and remove 5-10 lb of weight from my own bag.
Do you have a dog backpack that you love?
On another note, Crossroads has a new Facebook page for their rescue, CARE. Like them here if your news feed hasn’t yet hit dog, cat and horse cuteness overload. You can also follow CfB on Facebook here.
Couches for Breakfast 
We have this same backpack for Athena (in hot pink) that we once got on mega clearance at Petco for only $10. She doesn’t wear it much, and she doesn’t wear her horribly expensive Ruffwear Approach Pack much either because both rub her armpits and give her hot spots if she wears them too long. We have been too lazy to find a way for them to work….but as the summer approaches, I’m thinking we should probably figure it out and get our money’s worth!
Gambit looks great in his! It sounds like he’s going to have some fun adventures wearing his backpack!
That is a great price! We just have PetSmart which doesn’t have great clearance and a local pet store chain with really high prices so I settle for whatever deals I can get on Amazon. Our usual lake spots are only a 1/4-1/2 mile, although it can take a while to get to them since we are frequently stopping or doing turnarounds. If Gambit’s thin coat has problems with rubbing, I’ll just put it on Eddie – his coat is so thick I can’t feel his skin underneath. I bet you could make some sort of arm pit covers out of some thick fleece.