Customer Reviews

Doggles Dog Backpack, Medium, Red/Blue

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Doggles makes two different backpacks--Standard and Extreme. BOTH STYLES OF BACKPACK ARE SOLD ON THIS SAME PAGE--clearly an error on Amazon's part. The red is Standard. The blue is Extreme. The grey pack shown is the Extreme; however, Doggles also sells the Standard in grey (and it sounds like that's what a previous reviewer received). I would be cautious about ordering the grey because you may not get the pack you're expecting. It appears that all of the previous reviews are for the Standard pack. My review is for the BLUE Doggles EXTREME OUTDOOR GEAR EX PACK.

My puppy is currently 17 pounds with 12" neck and 19" girth. I bought the pack in size XS. It fits great with lots of room to grow. There are photos of Barney wearing the pack in the customer photos. I bought this pack just to give my dog a little extra workout on walks and hikes. He is very high energy, so it takes a lot to wear him out. Given that I bought an XS, I wasn't expecting Barney to help carry much gear on hikes, but I was very surprised at how much can fit in the bags. For size reference, I can easily fit 4 tennis balls in each side of the XS size pack (5 fit, but not comfortably).

The Extreme pack is an excellent quality product. It is made from durable rip-stop nylon, all seams are reinforced and covered, and the pack is full of great features. There is padding in the back and under both buckles. A mesh fabric lining and an opening in the back under the handle are great for breathability and ventilation. The zippers are water resistant--a feature I don't need and it makes them a little tougher to open and close, but they are durable and usable. The assist handle, metal leash ring, straps, and buckles are all very strong. All of the trim on the sides and back are light reflective for night visibility. And the biggest plus is that the Doggles pack comes in smaller sizes than most packs--small dogs need backpacks, too! I can't speak for the Standard pack, but the Extreme Outdoor Gear EX Pack definitely gets 4 paws up for both quality and price.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WOULD I ATTACH A LEASH TO THIS PACK !

I bought this pack for a hyper-kinetic rescued dog (lab/chow mix) I have been working with. When the pack arrived I set about fitting it to the intended wearer, and then I loaded it with a water bottle and a can of dog food on each side. I found the straps a bit difficult to adjust, and could not get a completely satisfactory fit, but this is a one time process. When I set about loading the pack I was particularly disappointed by the zippers. They were of very poor quality, prone to jamming, and they seem likely to break. Overall, there is a feeling of cheapness to the straps and fittings as well, although the pack material itself seems adequate. With care, I think this pack is usable, but I am worried about the possibility of a zipper breaking at an inopportune time. If I were looking for a dog pack to be used for serious trail hiking I would look a bit more. For a pack simply to help give a dog focus, or to carry a few items for an afternoon outing, this pack would be acceptable.

As far as using dog packs, the result can be impressive. This dog, while I have been working with him for about 6 weeks, is by nature a high energy animal. He knows the rules, and obeys commands quite well. (I can put him on my sidewalk, drop his leash [ground tethering] and go in the house. When I come back ten minutes later, he will still be there, and will remain until I give him a release command. But on walks, his need to move forward, and his desire to be the lead dog, cause him to make repeated small challenges to my leadership. He isn't a bad dog, by any means, but he has a desire to be dominate (despite being neutered) and you find yourself wishing you had some "doggie-ritalin" in your pocket.

The pack, however, makes a dramatic change. It as if all that excess energy of the past was directed at finding something to be doing, and now, at last, he has found something. He becomes focused, almost serious seeming, but in a very relaxed and mellow way. He maintains his position during the walk, focuses more on my leadership, and is no longer trying to slip into taking the lead. I guess everyone needs a sense of purpose in life, even dogs. Horses too, seem to benefit from "having a job". My cats, on the other hand, see their job as finding things for me to do, and being in charge of everyone else.

Overall, if you are looking for an inexpensive pack simply to help your dog be a bit calmer and more focused, this pack will work. Be careful not to overload your dog, as this pack isn't exactly an orthopedic marvel. A couple of water bottles and a "free sample" bag of dog food would usually suffice, they just need to feel that they are carrying something, not simply wearing a funny coat. Be sure the load is balanced between the two sides. I like to always include a little dog food, and I make sure that they sniff it and see it go into the pack. After all, what would make more sense to a dog than carrying food? (The answer is: "carrying something really smelly we could all roll around in", but we're not offering our dogs that option!)

The dog pack industry could stand to take a few lessons from the saddle industry on protecting the animal and making sure of their comfort. If people are willing to spend thousands for a top quality horse saddle, there should be a market for a top quality $100 to $300 orthopedic dog pack. I would pay that, or even a bit more for a *very* well engineered and manufactured product (but not a gimmicky one - it has to be the "real deal"). But there is also certainly a need for inexpensive packs like this one to be used on moderate walks with light loads.

In summary, I would buy this pack again for the intended purpose, but it would be nice to find something with better zippers and straps.

I just exchanged my XS extreme blue and gray backpack for the XXS. My dog is a skinny schnoodle with a 19" girth. I bought the XS since 17" was at the bottom of its size range, that way I would have room for adjustments. Unfortunately, while the pack did fit, it was overall too large for my dog. The pack would slip off over her head easily when pulled forward by the leash, and the pouches were too bulky for her slender frame.

I decided to exchange for the XXS size, whose max fit is 19" girth. Though the smaller pack size was PERFECT, the girth strap was not. When I tried it on, the girth strap was an inch too small, even after taking off the extra plastic adjustment bits to give it as much length as possible. I ended up un-stitching one side of the strap and re-sewing it to give another inch. This modification fit perfectly! I can tell my dog is much more comfortable with this smaller size and, unlike with the XS, she doesn't waddle awkwardly trying to adjust to the pack on her back. The XXS packs are small, but they fit a roll of poo-bags, keys and cell phone (with room to spare for something like treats). My dog is very high energy, and this seems to wear her out more than the typical 40 minute walk does.

I've posted pictures of the two sizes. Highly recommended!

We like the fact that our dog (Giant Schnauser Standard Poodle mix) carries her own stuff. I wasn't sure what size would work best for her, so I got the small. Glad I did. I think the pockets are a little small, we can't go up a size to get bigger pockets as this one just fits. I did loosen the front strap up just a bit this last time out and she did manage to get out of it (after she took off after an animal). But thankfully it is bright red and was easy to spot. I do like the bright red, so it is easier to see she is not a bear (she is all black). Now when we pull out her backpack she knows right away that we are heading to the hills.

I ordered this waterproof pack for running with my dog during the rainy season. I live in Portland, so I really needed a waterproof pack. I'm not sure what the deal is, but it didn't take much rain for this pack to be completely soaked through and actually held water on the inside. I was very disappointed. I'm hopeful that I can find a pack that is really waterproof.

I bought the XXS for my 7.5-pound maltipoo. We had to remove one of the clips in order to get it to fit around his body. The pockets for the backpack are so small that it's nearly impossible to fit anything in them. We purchased the pack for extra energy-burning walks. To put some weight in the back, we wrapped a few rolls of pennies -- that's about all we could fit. Not slowing him down at all...unfortunately.

I had high hopes for the "extreme" backpack. We were doing a 2 week trip on the Appalachian Trail, sometimes 2-3 days walking from civilization...so it was really important that the backpack I chose be both durable and be large enough to hold at least a week's worth of his own food, which is quite a bit since he is a 90 lb. shepherd and needed extra rations with the mountain hiking. I read a lot of reviews & decided to go with the Doggles Extreme pack. I tested it at the dog park with 8 lbs. of dry food - 4 lbs. on each side (a lot less than he would have to carry on the trip but I wanted him to get used to wearing the pack). Although he is leashed on the trail, I let him off-leash at the park & had him run with the pack on to test durability. Within 5 minutes the main seam above the zipper split open about 3 inches. Unfortunately not only did I not have enough time to return the pack, but I was concerned they would send me another poorly stitched defective pack, so I decided to fix & reinforce it myself. On closer inspection, that particular seam was poorly sewn with not enough fabric behind stitches to hold it. I decided to not only fix that rip, but also used pieces of canvas & high gauge thread to reinforce all of the seams on the inside & also put some reinforcement stitches around the zippers. The reinforced pack held up well for the two weeks and in the beginning he was carrying 14 lbs. of food & water (7 lbs. on each side). I don't know what Doggles considers waterproof but (before I reinforced pack) the dog waded in the creek for all of 10 seconds & everything inside as completely wet straight through the fabric. Not that big of a deal since I pack his food in ziploc bags, but still, why call it waterproof when it's no more waterproof than a piece of cotton? If you buy this pack be safe & make the reinforcements before you use it. If you don't know how to use a sewing machine...don't buy this pack. It's possible that I just got a defective pack, but for something that is labeled "extreme" I expected much more durability. Also, the zippers are cheap & do not zip smoothly. The one good aspect of this pack is that it has a large carrying capacity, larger than other packs I had seen.

Got the XS Doggles Dog Backpack for my Wire Fox Terrier. She's got lots of energy to burn and leaves momma & me way behind on our walks, so she needed to work a little harder. I read all the reviews of the other dog back packs and while this one only had 13 reviews, they were pretty glowing. None of the "poor quality" "ripped right away" etc. complaints. (As far as I can tell, the weakest part are the zippers, so we'll see how long they last.) Decided to spend 3X the dollars for one with a good fit and that's what I got. The pack sits well on her back and balances over her shoulders nicely. It has padded chest & girth straps and cinches down well over her 19" girth (with room to cinch down more) The packs hold way more than I would want for my 20 pound dog, so be careful you don't overload them. I would not recommend clipping the leash to the d-ring on the pack, as it makes the pack shift weirdly if they pull. Use your "gentle leader" or the collar. Overall, I'm happy, Poppy doesn't notice it much and we're all getting a better work out. (I posted pictures too)I didn't rate this a 5 star, 'cause there is always room for improvement!

This backpack fits our 10 pound Beagle Pomeranian mixed dog perfectly. We have been using it twice almost everyday for a month and it has held up well. The straps are durable and well padded. It is easy to get on and off our dog. The only thing I do not like is that the zippers are a bit hard to zip and unzip. I can fit my cell phone, keys, and doggie poop bags in the pockets but find that amount of weight does not wear our dog out well. Instead we use rocks which seem to wear her out very well. Before the backpack she use to pull very hard on the leash, even standing on her back two legs pulling. With the packpack on she walks well.

Purchased the first backpack it did not last two weeks. Purchased the Doogle brand it is superior quality to any other. this is one sturdy backpack. My dog cannot wait to wear it and go for a walk. He loves to recieve comments on how great he look wearing this backpack. He is a rock star.