Granite Gear Ruff Rider Dog Pack

I purchased one of these packs about eight years ago in medium for a 70 pound dog. It fit him just fine and has been on dozens of backpacking trips. That pack is now patched up with duct tape and still being used.This small size pack is a bit large for my 22 pound rat terrier. The small size Gerry pack fit her better. It was both tougher construction and more expensive. I first tried to buy one of those. They don't make that pack anymore. This is the best of the packs that I have ever examined for anything other than a dog under 25 pounds.

I hooked my male 82lb Golden Retriever up to this bag a few times now and it has worked great. He is a Larger framed Retriever and the Large is perfect but there is enough adjustments that a medium would fit him. I would probably recommend the Medium for most retrievers. The zippers and straps are well built. He has good adjustment and the pack has good padding. I usually leave him off the leash but if I do have to connect him I will hook him to the collar just because it works better for me. The pack has very large pockets and when I say large I mean "large". I am a minimalist when it comes to camping but i was able to put my down sleeping back and tarp on one side. Dog food, water filter, cooking pot, and ground pad on the other side. The pack was still only around 7.5 pounds but was very wide. All I had to carry was some MRE's and small stuff in a Camelback. If I were just going for an afternoon or day hike I would probably not recommend this back because it is so big. It is also not an ideal pack if your going through rough and narrow terrain because when full it makes my dog twice as wide.Pros: Well built, good padding, lots of room, light weight, plenty of adjustment. I RECOMMEND THIS BAGCons: To large for short hike, bulky on narrow trails, Front strap around chest does not have a buckle so to take it off you have to loosen strap and re-adjust every time you put it back on. The last negative I can say about the bag is that some brands have a cinch strap on the side to make the bag width less but this one doesn't. If it had one you could use the bag in all conditions*Large is for a larger framed Golden Retriever but would probably fit a smaller chested Great Dane

The bag fits my 90lb female Rottweiler OK but I didn't expect the pockets to be so big; they can carry alot of stuff.It seems that she is comfortable with the fit nevertheless but to keep the pack balance on her back I put two, 1 litre bottles of water on either side of the pockets. I let her drink from the 2 bottles, so that the pack stays evenly balanced on the two sides of her flanks or else, the pack becomes one sided, which makes it a bit challenging for her when she runs.I must mentioned one time she ran off and went to investigate something in the bushes, when I called out to her she came back minus the pack. I don't know how she got the pack off though, still is puzzling to me because I fastened the belt on to her chest properly and made the adjustments to the straps.The bag is sturdy otherwise and it should last her a while. She always receive admiring stares from strangers when they see her with her back-pack on when I carry her on our trail hikes.

I tried another brand that was half as much, and even though it was the right size for my dog (56 lb G. Shepherd mix) her front feet were obstructed by the positioning of the bags on each side. This bag with the straps up top, allows you to pull up the sides of the bags and keep them vertical without tucking in on the dogs belly and then obstructing the front feet while running. With the ruff rider I can rollerblade with my dog and there is no obstruction to her running beside me any more.The reflectors are a nice touch and the fact that it only takes one clip to put on the dog is really nice too. Capacity is excellent for being the small model, better than most I've seen. The backs of the bags that rest on the dog are somewhat padded and stiff to keep the bags form, the same goes with the support up top that rides on the dogs back.

We bought two of these for our dogs. They work great and fit well so as not to interfere with leg movement.They also have a drain hole in the bottom of each bag to let water out if you need it.There is also a soft felt type inner liner on the top and both sides where the pack rubs against the dog so they are not rubbed by it.They are well made, not cheap.We did have one top adjustment strap come loose from the pack.We contacted the company directly and they told us to ship it back so they can check it out and repair it or replace it.They sent us a new one at no cost.This company has excellent customer service.We have had no problem with the second pack we bought.We tried other packs and sent them back because they were not made well or had a poor fit on the dog.

Like many others I got the idea from Ceasar Milan to add the back pack to our walk as I have a very active 75lbs pitbull. The bag is made of very good material and has plenty of room for carrying stuff (i stuffed them with 2 big cans of beans on each side and still had a lot more room). My boy can handle the weight and surprisingly so can the pack. It did not sway from side to side and fit very comfortably for him. The sizes as many others say run a little big as I opted for a Medium for my 75lbs boy and it's got lots of room for a larger animal. Very, very happy with the pack.

I bought the blue size small for my 50 lbs husky. I was worried that perhaps I should have bought the medium but after using it for awhile, I'm glad I went with the small. It holds enough stuff for this dog. Anymore stuff and the dog would be too pissed off to carry it anyway. As for the quality of the product. So far so good. Seems well sewn together with heavy duty zippers. I will likely buy another one soon enough for my other dog.

My Newfoundland dog adapted to this backpack the first day I put it on her. I use it to give her a sense of purpose on her morning walks. I added some water bottles to give her that feeling of doing work. She seems more focused during the walk with the added weight.The backpack is easy to put on and adjust. It is very durable and shows no signs of wear.