Every time I post Juno the dog in her backpack on TikTok or Instagram, I’m flooded with comments and direct messages asking where we got her.
Juno carries the Ruffwear Approach Dog Backpack on all of our backpacking trips and has done so for five years!
Read on for a full review as well as a packing list and tips for backpacking with your dog.
The best dog backpack: Ruffwear Approach dog backpack tested
Juno wears the Ruffwear Approach Dog Backpack that my dad bought her before our very first backpacking trip in 2015.
It’s durable enough to last us more than six years of seasonal use, with at least two overnight backpacking trips per year. She also wears it on longer day hikes, perhaps 10-20 times a year, so she can carry her own snacks, water, and poop.
Juno loves her backpack. You can tell because it moves with a lot of momentum when it’s fully loaded. She loves having a job and the sight of the backpack gets her as excited as the sight of a squirrel or a jar of peanut butter.
Tips for backpacking with a dog
I love backpacking, but I hate leaving Juno home alone, so I’m always looking for dog-friendly backpacking trips.
Our favorite dog-friendly backpacking trips to date include the Ediza Lake Loop in the Ansel Adams Wilderness (right off the John Muir Trail), the Alice-Toxaway Lakes Loop in Idaho, and Titcomb Lakes in Wyoming.
Dogs are not allowed in the wilderness of most national parks, but there are still hundreds of thousands of miles of public land left for us to explore.
When planning a trip, consider your dog’s fitness and endurance, especially with a weighted backpack. Let your dog practice wearing a weighted backpack on easy day hikes before committing to an overnight stay.
Climate and weather are also important details. As a Husky mix, Juno is very sensitive to heat, so I avoid any trips with her where the weather is over 75 degrees. Backpacking in the heat of summer means we have to wake up early and start hiking at 7am to beat the heat.
Planning a backpacking trip is always about exploring water sources, but backpacking with dogs requires extra care when planning your route. In many areas, drinking from rivers and lakes can be harmful to your dog, so do your research! Blue-green algae, parasites and amoebas are common problems. Plan to filter or purify your dog’s water the same way you purify your own water, and bring plenty of water with you in case your dog gets thirsty.
How much weight should a dog carry?
A healthy adult dog can carry around 20-25% of its body weight:
30-pound dog: Weigh a maximum of 7.5 pounds
40-pound dog: Weigh 10 pounds maximum
50-pound dog: Weigh a maximum of 12.5 pounds
60-pound dog: Weigh a maximum of 15 pounds and so on.
Get your dog used to the backpack
Regardless of your dog’s size, you should start him with an empty backpack to get him used to the feeling of no weight.
Once your dog associates the backpack with going outside, he will enjoy wearing it. (Juno does a happy dance whenever she sees hers because she knows it means adventure!) Then you can slowly add more weight each hike.
Watch your dog carefully for signs of fatigue and adjust if necessary. Never give your dog more weight than you can carry (in addition to your own weight), otherwise he could injure himself and become unable to carry the backpack.
Juno, a 60-pound husky-shepherd mix, can comfortably carry about 10 to 12 pounds without slowing down and has easily carried up to 15 pounds at the start of outings. Now that she’s a little older, I keep her backpack weight at about 10 pounds and watch her carefully for signs of pain.
Backpack straps should be loose enough that a finger or two can fit between the straps and your dog’s fur, but not so loose that the backpack slides around as you walk.
Make sure the load is evenly distributed between the saddlebags, especially when your dog is eating his food and drinking his water, to avoid one-sided slipping or pain.
The best backpacking gear for dogs
In addition to Juno’s favorite hiking and camping gear—including a tick wrench, collapsible bowl, warm coat, and light-up collar—here are a few things I add for backpacking trips:
sleeping pad
Juno doesn’t like sleeping under a blanket and will wriggle out from under a blanket no matter how cold she is. That’s why I make sure that she is insulated as well as possible from below with a comfortable sleeping pad.
I like the collapsible version so I don’t have to worry about her cutting an inflatable pillow with her toenails, and so I don’t have to listen to an inflatable pillow crackle every time she moves in the night.
Down sleeping blanket
Juno doesn’t like to be covered while she sleeps, so I placed this blanket on her sleeping pad to create a cozy, comfortable nest. If it’s less than 40 degrees outside, she sleeps in a winter coat to keep it nice and warm.
Plastic container for storing dog waste
By far the best way to control dog poop smell! My favorite jars are lightweight plastic peanut butter jars or the Talenti gelato jars with screw lids.
Leash with hip belt
With this leash attached around my waist, I can hike hands-free and use my trekking poles while still giving Juno enough room to walk in front of me.
Questions about backpacking with dogs? Let me know below!
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