We have five dogs. Three castle dogs,  one Shepard and one small one.  The small one gets a coat in the winter even though she has a long coat.  The others haven't really needed covering items.  We just make sure the house fire is toasty when we get back. 🙂   ... View more

@REI-MichelleW Thanks for the link.  I am a flight medic currently in Northern AZ.  I teach trauma and wilderness first aid and have a K9 first aid class as well.  I will for sure check out the link you sent however because we can always pick up something from others.  🙂    I have the Fido pro Airlift from https://www.fidoprotection.com/fido-pro-airlift I like it.   It's conversations like this that are great for info sharing.   Thank you.   ... View more

I've found Musher's secret works fairly well.   Or get them used to wearing boots.   🙂 ... View more

I love the part in the linked article: " A maximum of 25 percent of body weight is a rough guideline."  Sometimes we try to load too much on our critters.  25% of 38lbs is 9.5.  That can be hit fairly quickly.  Also think about the environment that we taking our dogs with their packs on.  Hot, humid locations will trap body heat in and possibly overheat a dog.  Rest time without the pack in place is important to think of.   🙂   ... View more

Treat them just like you would treat yourself getting ready for a new race.  Generally you don't start by running 13.1, you ramp up.   Listen to your pup.  Pay close attention to them.   This can be breed specific.  Not sure what you have, but not all dogs are long distance critters.   Hope that steers you in a direction. ... View more