Carolyn Pike Roman Webboard User Reg: 03-20-2007
Posts: 559
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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I've read/heard of dogs wearing a weighted vest to make their 'workouts' more challenging. Could someone point me towards a thread or article about the pros & cons?
Did a search but didn't quite find what I was looking for-
Sandy Moore Webboard User Reg: 07-25-2006
Posts: 2665
Loc: AZ
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There have been a couple of threads about it but couldn't find them. Kacie Hackett helped me when I wanted to do the same thing with Lear. With her coaching I got him a backpack and started off with nothing in it, then a couple of walks later I put in a filled drinking water bottle on each side of the pack, then progressed to larger water bottles. Now for summer, we're skipping the pack altogether, just too hot.
Carolyn Pike Roman Webboard User Reg: 03-20-2007
Posts: 559
Loc: San Antonio, TX
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It's pretty toasty here as well; we try for early morning or early evening for walks or exercise. I just know our 1-1/4 mile loop is not enough for my guys...
We're working on loose-leash walking right now. With the prong they don't drag me away, but it's time to get the walking-nicely problem fixed. Needless to say they aren't doing the whole walk (we made it to the end of the street this week with no pulling) and I can tell. Jake will play fetch and I can tire him out somewhat, but dixon is not interested.
They will both be three yrs this summer, so I think we're safely past the growing/development stages. I read a website which suggested that weight vests were bad, but pulling a load was ok. Any thoughts on this anyone? We're not looking at weight pull competitions or anything, just a better work-out.
Sandy Moore Webboard User Reg: 07-25-2006
Posts: 2665
Loc: AZ
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I don't think backpacks on our dogs are any worse than backpacks on our kids, or on us when hiking/camping. Keep the weight within common sense. We used to go backpacking several years ago and our Lab mix carried her own pack, made for her by my husband and I never saw anything "bad" happening to her. I certainly wouldn't worry about putting it on a 3 year old dog.
My dog (Lear) was a little over 18 months when I first started him on a lightweight pack. Get a pack that distributes the weight evenly over the shoulders and part of the back.
There's nothing bad about it. Every website has an opinion. Some opinions on websites make people worry too much about every little thing.
Reg: 12-15-2007
Posts: 143
Loc: New Zealand, Auckland
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So is it not a good idea to have backpacks on dogs under a year old?
We got one for Max because it's winter now and dark by the time we get home. So the amount of time that we walk has been cut way down and we can't go to the park for him to race around. We tried water bottles in it but the sloshing disturbed him. So now we have little bags of rice, probably about a cup on each side.
Should we stop using the backpack until he's fully grown? I don't want to do any damage to him.
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