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Reuben’s new Ruffwear pack

by backpackingbongos

It’s great taking a dog backpacking, but the drawback is that you have to carry their often smelly kit.  I took a leap of faith yesterday and ordered a Ruffwear approach pack from Muddy Paws.  Less than 24 hours later it had been delivered, not bad considering I had used the free postage option.  Anyway, time to give Reuben his new present to see what he thought of it.

Unfortunately he appeared to be less than impressed.  He sat there whilst I put it on with a look that simply said, “What are you doing to me now?”.  Fully kitted up he waddled into the garden like a stiff-legged robot for a sniff around.  He was a bit like that when he first wore his harness, now he gets excited when he sees it, it means good times ahead.  Hopefully he will view his new pack the same way, given time.

He will get to use it for a whole week come next Saturday when he takes me bothying in the far north of Scotland.  His bothy pal Dougal aka the Hideous Mutt has also got one on order, same colour and everything.  Reuben is the canine trendsetter.

Posted on October 14, 2011 at 3:21 pm in Gear   |  RSS feed |   Reply   |   Trackback URL

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27 Comments to “Reuben’s new Ruffwear pack”

    
  1. markswalkingblog
    October 14, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    Cool, how much of your gear can you stuff into those packs ? I would to see Reuben’s face if you did that 🙂

    Reply
    • backpackingbongos
      October 14, 2011 at 6:12 pm

      Not a huge amount Mark as his pack only holds a total of 9 litres! I could sneak in some heavier stuff though…………….

      Reply
  2. chrissiedixie
    October 14, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    I think he looks very handsome in it. Have you put any weight in yet? Thought about getting one for Dixie a while ago, but she said she was getting a bit elderly to be starting with that kind of palava. Now Tilly would be a different matter, might even slow her down a bit. Still working on Geoff to let me do an overnighter with Tilly. The green goes very nicely with his colouring, and I should imagine it will tone well with Dougal, too.

    Reply
    • backpackingbongos
      October 14, 2011 at 6:13 pm

      Thanks Chrissie, I thought that he looked very handsome too! So far just put a couple of rolled up blankets in it to see how it fitted him. Will probably only use it for him to carry his own food, coat and bedding when out backpacking though.

      Reply
  3. markswalkingblog
    October 14, 2011 at 4:01 pm

    James, thinking about it, you could also strap your Trailstar on top with bungee cords. I would laugh if he ran off with it 🙂

    Reply
  4. r
    October 14, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    Very sexy. Does it sprout wings so he can fly? x

    Reply
  5. dave
    October 14, 2011 at 4:09 pm

    nice, is that a handle on the back? looks the biz. look fwd to the photies of the 2 dogs kitted up. I reckon u could get a half bottle of talisker in there too

    Reply
  6. surfnslide
    October 14, 2011 at 6:16 pm

    I could have done with one of those when I went backpacking with dog Harry in the 90’s. Reuben looks a little forlorn in the photos – which is pretty much how I look when I hoist a heavy pack on these days

    Reply
    • backpackingbongos
      October 14, 2011 at 6:19 pm

      Aye he is looking a little forlorn in the photos, he is now laying in his bed a bit poorly. He had his booster jabs this morning and something is not agreeing with him. I think that is why he was not that happy to be a model this afternoon. Hopefully back to his old self tomorrow.

      Reply
  7. chrissiedixie
    October 14, 2011 at 6:30 pm

    Funnily enough, I did once see a dog backpacking with one in the States with his bed roll attached to the top with bungee cords…(That’s true actually, I’m not making it up!)

    Reply
  8. alan.sloman
    October 14, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    Just a small note of caution: Make sure you check, regularly, Reuben’s coat carefully where the straps go round his chest. Small pieces of heather and twigs can get caught in there and chafe quite nastily – Poor Piglet (Peewiglet’s Boarder Terrier) got quite sore and needed antibiotics to sort it out.

    Reply
    • backpackingbongos
      October 16, 2011 at 2:16 pm

      Indeed I will Alan. The harness underneath is the same as the one that he already has got, luckily so far no problems with heather getting in there. Always good to be on the lookout for such things.

      Reply
  9. Chri SUmner
    October 15, 2011 at 9:19 am

    Reuben is just a legend !!! we still talk about his apperance at the Monsal social meet !!!

    Reply
  10. writesofway
    October 17, 2011 at 4:57 pm

    All very nice. As for Reuben being a trendsetter, i’ll have you know that the Hideous Mutt chose his Lichen Green backpack entirely independently of external canine influence! Still, it’s good to see that the boys share such good taste…

    Hmm, here i am doing what i always warned myself against…

    Reply
    • backpackingbongos
      October 17, 2011 at 7:08 pm

      Dougal rang up Reuben to check which pack he was getting as he realised that Reuben is such a trend setter. How can a dog that young own a mobile eh? By the way the Lichen green in real life is a very luminous green.

      Reply
  11. Graham
    October 17, 2011 at 10:00 pm

    Hmmm….whatever next? Pink wellies?

    Reply
  12. David Seòras
    October 18, 2011 at 8:48 am

    lol, that looks great, although he doesn’t look to chuffed with the idea himself.

    Reply
  13. rich
    October 19, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    they look like wings

    Reply
    

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