Beast of burden continues to be one of the many roles that dogs play; they are still used to pull and carry. Owners of toy breeds, I trust, will be sufficiently wise not to take their dogs on extended camping trips, unless they plan on carrying them a good part of the way. However, any reasonably athletic dog with normal conformation can be fitted comfortably with a pack.
In general, I would not recommend planning a trip around the idea of using your dog as a pack mule, but rather as a means of pulling his own weight. It is possible to train some dogs, depending on their size and conformation, to be your beasts of burden, although that is not the subject of this article.
A well-conditioned sled dog can carry up to 50 percent of its weight in a pack, but most dogs are neither this strong nor this conditioned. Most dogs, however, should be able to carry a couple of weeks of their own food supply without undue strain.
My dogs carry their own food. Food is easy to pack. It's uniform and low in density, so even if I fill the packs to capacity, they won't be too heavy. This way, I can travel with the satisfaction that my dogs are pulling their own weight. As their burden lightens, I often replace the weight with some of my own gear— dog packs make great easy access compartments.
Your main consideration in outfitting your dog will be the purchase of an appropriate dog pack. There are a variety of packs on the market. On Emma, I use one made in Golden, Colorado, by Mountainsmith. Maggie uses an old pack made by some now-defunct company. Why these packs? Because they work on my dogs. It's the same with your own backpacks— you may find that a Kelty pack works for you, while a friend swears by Dana. Recently I found Wolfpacks, an Oregon company that makes intelligently designed packs, which my dogs find quite comfortable. They provide good instructions on how to fit the pack and they have an interesting website.
In addition to the Mountainsmith pack, the most widely available pack is by Eagle Creek, but there are other companies around that make them. I have seen one by a company called Wenaha. Many companies dealing in dogsledding materials also sell dogpacks.
Packs are sold with weight recommendations. My dogs, Maggie and Emma, weigh approximately the same amount, but they differ in height by several inches. If I had chosen their packs based solely on weight, I would have bought the same pack for both dogs. Although Maggie is quite strong, her low height prevents me from putting the same size pack on her that I use on Emma.
Mail-order has taken over the outdoor goods market to a large degree, but I recommend a trip to the store with your dog to try a pack on before purchasing it. This will save you the trouble of having to return a poor-fitting pack.
The pack should have wide, soft straps. One or two straps go under the dog's torso, and one goes around the front of the dog's chest, in front of his legs. Without this front strap, the pack may slide off the rear of the dog. The pack I use on Emma has a Y-strap, which puts only one strap around the dog's underside, yet gives good stability. I also carry an extra strap with me; on steep descents I put it from the rear end of the pack around the dogs' haunches or below their tails. This keeps their packs from sliding too far forward. I have found that carrying the load higher and closer to the shoulder, yet without interfering with the movement of the front legs, provides the greatest comfort and efficiency for the dog.
Emma's pack has lash rings on top. While I wouldn't use these rings to carry anything sharp or heavy, it's not a bad place to attach a windshirt or light raincoat. It will be subjected to the vicissitudes of Emma's behavior, though.
