Outdoor Dog Gear? What dogs need gear?
Not necessarily but I have picked up items over the years that have fallen apart and others that have worked great. Actually my dog is pretty geared up some days lol. Below is sort of an informal review of the dog gear I’ve used for hiking and skiing. The brand mentioned is just one I have had success with, I get no free gear from them. I find good quality outdoor dog gear brands are limited. The local store I buy from carries one main brand of dog gear (Ruffwear), I’ve had good experiences with Ruffwear so I’ve just kept getting more.
I have a 60lb fluffy mutt...his fur is definitely a reason for some of my choices.
Collars
My dog has warn common synthetic collars you find at any box pet store (under $10), hemp collar ($15) and for a few years now has worn a Ruffwear brand collar ($30). I had to look on the Ruffwear website for the material name as I haven’t seen anything like it. They still have the material as my favorite collar (Headwater Collar) but my version has a clip buckle and now they use a belt style buckle (not a fan of because fur always seems to get in the way and they take time to do up which is annoying when I take the collar off my dog every night). I love the synthetic material of the collar as it’s waterproof and stink proof. I have found other synthetic and hemp collars smells after a while. I also found cheaper dog collar clasps broke often. Our hemp collar material eventually fell apart – hemp doesn’t seem strong enough for a dog collar that often gets wet. The Ruffwear collar has lasted for years and still looks great. If for some reason it breaks I hope they put a different buckle on the Headwater Collar and I would get it again!
Leash
My favorite leash I did get for free from a street fair that a pet store stand was handing out. It is fantastic with a clip at both ends and loops along the leash. I think it’s for walking with the dog around your waist which I never have done but I love the versatility of shortening or lengthening the leash. I can also clip two dogs together. I do this with our dog and our friend’s they know each other well and it makes them not run off if in backcountry. We clip them together if we can’t access an area like water but they can. I regularly clip one end to my car and one to my dog when getting ready to go on a hike. My leash is a Rogz For Dogz brand.
Dog Booties
My dog has the furriest paws I’ve ever seen. I have trimmed them but he doesn’t seem to like it after. He is okay with me trimming any other fur. In the winter going snowshoeing, skiing or sometimes just on long walks his paws get full of snow balls. It’s painful and annoying for him. I have tried a friend’s dog paw wax and it only worked for about 10 minutes then the snow clumps came back. The wax seemed to work well on the dogs with shorter fur. I can’t remember the first booties brand I got my dog but they didn’t have enough flex in the ankle and drove my dog crazy. Since I liked his Ruffwear collar I thought I’d check their boots – happy to say they have a soft material that moves well with my dog. The soles are thick, they stay on 80% of the time and my dog will wear them. I have lost two booties. I ended up buying two of the same pairs since I needed spare booties. You can see some purple sticking out of his boots, it's dog medical wrap to help his booties stay on and not have the edges harden with snow and press into his legs.
Jacket
My dog doesn’t get cold, he loves laying in glacier fed lakes and sleeping in snow. His fur still needs some protection in the winter as it just loves to get snowballs. I did a lot of looking a jackets – eww – there are a lot of bad designs, cheap material and horrible styles out there. I ended up with a Ruffwear jacket, it’s like a soft shell. Brand wasn’t why I got it the material and fit was the winner. It keeps the snow off his fur, is stretchy, covers most of his stomach (where he gets snowballs) and the jacket stays on well. Dog sweaters bunch and are really only good for in the city in my opinion.
Harness
I had a no-pull synthetic dog harness to help with my dogs pulling when he was under two years. Exactly the one in the link. The harness worked pretty well but I liked using it on hikes not just walks around town (I would only us the back loop on hikes, never as a no pull harness). His fur would ball up on the material and the harness would take forever to dry out if he got wet. I eventually got him a Ruffwear harness. I like my dog wearing a harness so I don’t yank on his neck if he sees an animal or something happens on the trail. The harness also acts as a suitcase handle which I’ve used a lot to pull him out of deep snow, up onto a rock or out of thick mud.
Bag carrier
For backpacking hiking trips my dog carries his own food, bowl and treats. Many friends’ dogs also do this. They seem to all be happy with being put to work. The only bad (and often comical) outcome of using a dog bag is that the dog is now wider than they are normally which causes them to sometimes walk between too tight of space like two trees and get stuck. This rarely happens but it has. Dogs learn quickly!
