Outward Hound Kyjen 2500 Dog Backpack, Small, Orange

Ok, so trail hiking with my dogs is a long-time hobby of mine; i have several backpacks already and am a bit of an outdoor gear junkie, especially when it comes to dog gear. In the last year i came to adopt another dog who is smaller than my old girl and i needed a small pack for her to use on our weekend adventures. I looked around at different models, but it was hard to find one with features that i liked for a price i was willing to pay. Even though i had purchased an older version of this pack years ago and didn't like it, i saw the upgrades that had been made and thought i might give it another shot. I ordered this one and have used it a few times with some good results. So far here are the pros & cons:Pros:-Nice size: very appropriate for a day-hike. Ample room for water bottles some snacks, pickup bags, an emergency leash, and a small first aid kit.-Saddle bag design: the saddle bags are a nice shape & distribute the weight over a good length of the dog's spine. They don't sit too high or too low and the elliptical shape doesn't catch on trail hazards like ones that are more square-shaped. The fact that they are removable from the harness is also a plus if you want to give your dog a break during rest periods on the trail, or if she has a habit of wanting to go for a quick swim in every stream on the mountain. The hook-and-loop attachments do a good job of keeping the bags stabilized and connected to the harness too.-Weight: the manufacturer used an interesting mix of lightweight rip-stop nylon and tough ballistic nylon to have tough materials on the bottom & low sides to prevent rips, and the lighter-weight stuff on the tops. the pack is fairly lightweight considering.-Carry handle: always a nice feature-Harness design: has both the yoke-style front and a back cinch strap to help keep the load stable (i always get packs with the second back strap because of this, and if they don't come with one, i add it.) all the straps are adjustable.-Other neat features: there are internal zipper pockets inside the saddle bags to help keep things organized and elastic straps in the bottoms for holding water bottles to keep them from shifting during travel, which i thought was a pretty good idea. Lets face it, it is also pretty cool that the pack comes in a variety of colors so you can find one that matches your dog's personality!Cons:-No leash attachment: i thought this was a bit odd, but the pack does not have anywhere to clip a leash to. i would want something on the harness somewhere i think, so the lead does not get caught on the saddlebags while walking.-Straps are not padded: my dogs are pretty fluffy, and she is only wearing it for a few hours at a time with less than 8lbs of weight generally, so it is not that big of a deal for us, but i could see it being a problem for a dog with a very short coat.-The angle that the straps are sewn to the harness pad at, are odd: the yoke straps are sewn straight, however they should be at a downward sloping angle to fit the dog right. because of this there is a strange wrinkle in the harness at the connection above the shoulder, but it doesn't seem to interfere with the dog's movement or pack use.-Flimsy looking zippers. I would have hoped for a slightly sturdier zipper, but the ones i have have not broken yet or anything.In all this is a good economy-value dog pack. Alot of good features for the price range and ideal if you are just looking for something basic to take day-trips with. If you want to do some serious backpacking with your dog, i think it is worth it to put up the extra money for something on the next level quality wise, like the packs that Ruffwear makes though. For multi-day hikes you would want something that can hold more gear and with a better engineered harness system designed for that level of use. However if you are looking for something that is light in both weight and price, and just enough for weekend excursions, or even walks around town, this pack is a pretty good choice.

I never chose my dogs, they just showed up in my life as abandoned treasures. Now you know I didn't get to follow that rule of "make sure your dogs have matching energy levels." We go on long walks, over an hour and sometimes over two hours, which really tires out my first dog but my other one is still feeling spunky and so is the new foundling. So that means I'm dealing with 3 at the moment and two of them have high energy. I needed a new trick to add to my bag of games, exercises, and puzzles.I use the  Freedom No-Pull Dog Harness Training Package - 1" Width  to walk them so was worried about how to make that work with a backpack. I decided to take a chance on an idea/hope that I had and it paid off. Since the saddlebags are removable from the strapped part of this device I figured I could sandwich the actual walking harness between those two layers. I didn't even have to pull out my sewing machine to create a large "button hole" in the top layer for the D ring like I thought I might.I uploaded some photos showing how the harness fit between the layers. I think this url might work for one of them: http://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/permalink/mo1FPS3SYPF551P/B0081XIFZU/ref=cm_ciu_images_pl_linkzI fastened the bottom layer of the backpack onto the dog making sure all the straps were properly adjusted. Then I put the old harness on over that, didn't even have to readjust the straps. The saddlebags went on right over that with not problems or conflict. The little top loop strap looped easily around the top of the harness strap and buckled into the saddle bag so now all three parts were perfectly secured and working together. There was no interference with either D-ring on the harness (the Freedom harness has a top and a front D ring so you can use one or the other or both) I am quite sure that this idea would work with a large variety of other harnesses but it's possible some might require a little ingenuity.Rosalyn got the first test walk and since I know she is very strong and is used to my training, she got a 1L bottle in each pocket. She was a bit cautious at first but after a block or two she was used to it. Enock did not get put into the backpack until this morning's walk and he only got a pint sized bottle in each pocket. I now know he can handle more. Both dogs weight about 45-47Lbs. They were both fine, happily pranced along with me and while they still played around, they settled down much more quickly once we got home. Evanna did not mind not having one and was still the first to curl up for a nap after breakfast.I'll come back to update after a bit more time of them working up to a bit more weight. I have read that 20-25% of body weight should be the maximum and I figure the Liter water bottles weight slightly over 2Lbs each so perhaps eventually they can handle as much as 4 bottles each plus maybe a tad more. The backpacks are roomy enough and seem to distribute the weight well, more toward the shoulders than lower unsupported back.

The media could not be loaded.  So far its been fantastic. Has slowed my Husky down considerably and she is shattered now when she comes back from her walk.Normally she would keep going for hours after her walks throwing balls and toys etc, but the minute she comes home now she clims up on the sofa by me and is zonked out.WooooooohoooooooooooooooooooI have deducted a star for 2 reasons.1. There is no D ring to attach a lead too, this is a massive let down because i refuse to attach a lead to my Huskys neck because she will choke herself pulling, i ended up clipping it to the handle which isnt the best but i could see no other option. It would not be that difficult to get them to stitch one in to be honest and i might have a go myself.2. The straps, i personally feel that both of the chest straps should be padded and i have in fact altered mine to ensure they are padded to stop them rubbing my Husky raw.However for the money you cant go wrong.Also this ships from America, and i had mine in 20 days. Not bad, could be better however, as i have stuff from china in 5 days.If you have a Husky you really cant go wrong with this at all, however be prepared to make a few alterations.

Bought this for my Jr x Whippet. Awkward shaped dog but fitsfine other than the pockets are wy too big for the dog size good quality amd well made tho

great product - thanks

I used it a few times and no complaint and does what it needs to do. I haven't used it that much like I thought I would so not sure how long it would last but I still plan on using it for future dogs. I'll come back once I've used it way more. Dog's look comfortable when they use it and easy to put on and all.

I like the big compartments on the sides, which allow you to share the weight. However, the weight is mostly carried on the sides, so I don't know what effect it has on the dog's back. The straps in front could have been padded, and a little larger. They tend to sorta dig into my Husky's fur, but she's still comfortable. Fits lots of stuff, and definitely tires my dog out a lot more than a regular walk without the back pack!