I'm going to get a backpack for Kasey this summer. We are going to be hiking a few times (just day hikes - don't need a ton of room, just water,etc). Do you guys have any tips for buying a dog backpack? They are expensive and it looks like I will have to get it online, so I won't be able to try it on him before buying it. Have any of you tried this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GTPV90/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk

I don't want to spend more than $40 or so if I don't have to. Thanks for any recommendations or things I should consider when looking at them.

I highly recommend ruf wear packs.
I use one on my service dog.
I love it!!!
It comes with a detachable pack/water camel system.
The harness is designed with a yoke system, so not to rub their shoulders, and can double as a rock climbing harness and has a transport handle on it that is rated to carry the dog with. It has 2 padded girths and a load compression system.
It is fab!! Eddie wears the packs for hours a day, and the harness for about 16 hours at a time. It is well padded and he loves it!!!! He puts himself in it every morning.
They also make just a camel, and a pack that doesn't have the built in camel system.
link to the pack I use, http://www.backcountryk9.com/95/0/Products.aspx There are lots of pix, so explore the page well....down at the bottom of the page is a link with more pix on how it works.


Here is the one I'm getting my daughter's dog, it comes with the same harness, but the packs don't have the camel system....It sounds like this is the one that might be best for you.

http://www.backcountryk9.com/96/0/Products.aspx
Here is the camel only system
http://www.backcountryk9.com/199/0/Products.aspx

They have them on sale for a serious discount often.

The harness they have is better than any other backpacking harness I've seen....it doesn't go across the shoulders, and bio-mechanically is far better than the ones that go straight across the chest and point of the shoulders.

I can get pix of Eddie's if you want......

Ruffwear makes good dog gear. I highly recommend them
Dogs come in a lot of shapes and the shoulder and chest area sometimes make for a tricky fit, so it's nice if you can try out the pack on your dog before buying.
Here area few of the issues I've had with my dogs' packs while backpacking in New Hampshire.
Dogs getting stuck between two trees and losing the pack. This would be very bad if I hadn't been able to find the pack once they'd lost it. We would have been very short of food for a few days.
Dogs getting stuck between, hitting hard enough to throw them off-balance, or caught on, boulders, trees, and my legs because they are a lot 'fatter' in the chest area when carrying a pack. This started making them tentative about tackling some of the more technical sections of the trail until they figured out how 'fat' they were.
The pack riding up and over the dogs' heads on steep downhill climbs, and getting stuck so I had to go and help the dog out of the straps as it was halfway over the head. Not such a good situation on a steep, rocky downhill with very little handholds.
Difficulty in balancing the load, so the pack tilted more on one side than the other, making the dog feel unbalanced which is not conducive to jumping from boulder to boulder in the mountains.
Foot issues due to extra weight on primarily the front feet of the dog. The trails were very rocky and rough.
Overall poor structure of my sled dog (Alaskan husky) for carrying any weight. He has a deep, very narrow chest, narrow shoulders, and a light build. He looked so miserable and unhappy after carrying the pack for a couple days I ended up carrying it for him. I think he started trying to lose the load on trees- he's not dumb- and looked very happy and relieved once he was free of the pack. My shepherd, who has a wider build and a wider chest did much better, but still wasn't super happy with the pack.
I had them carry just their food, we didn't need to carry water.
I think generally dogs with a wider stance and heavier build (malamutes, labs, Great Pyrenees, newfoundland) tend to handle a pack better than lighter boned dogs (setters, greyhounds, salukis).
I'm sure it also depends on the activity level of the dog, the steepness and roughness of the trail, and the weight of the pack.
I was so excited to try out the packs, but found out that some dogs don't do as well as pack animals. I've met quite a few dogs hiking the whole Appalachian Trail, and some look pretty miserable carrying a pack. Others look perfectly content. It all depends.
The whole point is, it might be a good idea to try out a cheap pack on Kasey first to see how he tolerates it. I'm sure you can use marker training and other methods to make this fun, but on steep hikes where the dog needs all his agility to clambor from boulder to boulder, I would forgo a pack and carry his gear for him.
Just my thoughts on this.

Kiersten and Willie,

What wonderful product reviews! This is not stuff you can read on amazon.com.

http://www.ezydog.com/fxstore/product/774/Summit-Backpack.aspx

I have an Ezy Dog harness and it is just awesome so I would imagine this backpack would be pleasing since it has a harness built in.

The load balancing issue is one reason I got the Palisades pack with the water bladders. You can use them like ballast.....let more water out of one side to balance it.
The bladders also pad the items in the pack from pressing on the dog's sides.
The load compression straps really help going down the trail...or crowded grocery store isles....sigh....but the dog does need to time to learn how to handle the wide load.
The packs clip on and off of the harness, so its really nice and really secure.
It is also really adjustable so it will fit almost any body type.
I respectfully disagree about getting a cheap one to try...I can guarantee that Eddie would not like any of the cheep ones out there.....Most dogs wouldn't.
That would lead to a false conclusion that the dog does not like carrying a pack.
Same thing as putting an ill fitting saddle on a horse and calling him a bronc when he tosses you off cause it hurts.

Nice pack Spencer ....Similar idea except it doesn't look like it has the extra rear girth?
I reallllllllly love those yoke front harnesses...They are really nice...just look at the siwash pulling harnesses or x back sled harnesses...or a tracking or agitation harness...same yoke design.
It doesn't hinder the shoulder movement and when adjusted right won't rub either.

Here is a link to the harness that I have under the packs.
http://www.backcountryk9.com/104/0/Products.aspx

I don't mean to be overbearing, I've just done tons of research because I wanted Eddie to be comfortable as possible.
I read stories about how people had such a hard time finding the right harness for their mobility dogs...paying hundreds of dollars each new harness, only to have the dog start running away when the harness was brought out to go to work.

He really loves his pack/harness....Just thought I'd share.

Thanks everyone. Maybe I will rethink the pack idea. When we hike he gets to be off leash and there are a lot of forested places that we weave in and out of trees. Didn't even think about the whole 'getting stuck between trees' issue - which is a great point! And, the biggest reason we were going to get one is so he can carry his own water- that would necessitate figuring out how to keep the pack balanced.

Good points! Thanks for the info. The ruf dog stuff looks great, but it sure is more than we wanted to spend. Have to give this some thought.

If its the water you are worried about.......
Is it that there isn't water near where you hike....or that you don't want him to drink the water because of giardia?
If its the latter, I got this reallllly cool silicone bowl for Eddie...it folds up really small and weighs half a lb.
that and some water purifying pills will do the trick.
Cheap and simple.