Ruffwear  Palisades II Dog Pack

We bought this pack for our 75 lb. female Shepard mix. She is really comfortable in it and wears it on all of our backpacking trips. Its roomy enough for our own gear and the two dogs' food. On the hike out, she carries all of our trash! The only problem we have is the fabric fraying by the zippers and seams due to constant rubbing against granite rocks and other trail obstacles. This company really stands behind their products. We called about the fraying and they replaced the pack. Overall, the pack works for us and our dog!

I looked for and tried a handful of dogpacks prior to taking our dogs to Tahoe to go hiking with us and this one is by far the best dogpack they have tried. Other packs my dog(s) tried tilted lopsided and did not rest evenly on their backs. Before seeing the Pallisades II pack I though to myself "what these (other) packs need is a full chest harness that goes between their front legs." The pack also has adjustable staps to tighten the load closer to their bodies to help balance the weight. Lots of pockets as well and the water packs ROCK! The only downfall is the plastic D-ring to clip the leash on and attaching clips. I don't us it (D-ring) because it will break with a bigger stronger dog. I have to use my dogs collar because he has broken plastic attatchment clips before as a puppy on a harness.

We all love our Palisades packs. One thing that I'd really like to point out is that Ruffwear has figured out what other companies have yet to: Packs need to be centered over the shoulders- the front legs. NOT in the middle of the back. We use our packs year round- hot summer trails and chilly, powdery snowshoe trips. The packs have yet to perform undesireably. Our large dog can carry all his own food and water, along with snacks, leash, toys, etc. [...]

I run with my lab while he wears this for his water at the dog park. We average 20 miles a week and this is great. I bought another version from [...] first, which tore on the first run. This one is still together after two months. The back strap and sides do not sinch as well as I would like, but the pack is stable and doesn't shift. Overall - great buy!

I like this pack alot. Its a bit difficult to get on at times if you have a dog who is excited to go but it helps the pack stay on better than the other brand names we have. It has a nice padding on the straps too. Its not as great of quality as others but it holds up well and fits well. We have used it multiple times!

The top loop where you connect the leash rips easilly. Don't connect your big dog to it if you want him to stay put. Also you will need to replace the plastic thing that connects all the pieces together at the chest with a real small climbing beanner because it is plastic and was the first thing to break. Otherwise it is constructed really well. You might want to get rid of the water reservoirs and get ones with a camelback like spout unless you plan on bringing a bowl and disconnecting the pack every time you want to fill the bowl because the water bladders will not come out of the itsy bitsy holes. You have to fill them while in the pack and can't get them out once filled. I just use camelback bladders and put them in the main compartments and my dog drinks from the spout. It is deffinately the best dog pack put there. Sits nicely on him and I can hoist him via the burly handle up mountain sections he can't climb up. Just make sure you have the same amount of weight on both sides of the pack or it will sag to one side.

This pack was the key to my dog's thru hiking the colorado trail. It allowed to pack up to ten days of food, and was a great help in weight reduction for me. It did cause irriation under her arms but a piece of wool fixed the rubbing problem.

I love this pack. The removable bags (while leaving the harness on) is a GREAT feature, as sometimes you just have to do this when hiking with a dog. For example, when doing over narrow foot bridges over creeks I always remove the pack for safely reasons. The three clips allow for simple on/off "action". Another review about this pack mentions a plastic D-Ring that you could use to attach the leash to. This is the D-ring on the top, and in the middle of the pack. My D-ring is actually metal (although it looks like black plastic) and it works just fine for my medium sized, 50 pound dog. When backpacking I use a retractable leash, attach to the D-ring, and attach the leash to my hip-belt on the backpack. Hands free operation! The water bladders are excellent. I find the best way to load this pack is to put in an equal amount of water in each side, then add food, treats and bowls to both sides. This ensures that you start off evenly balanced. You'd be surprised by how little you need to be off to have one side much lower. Having smaller ziploc bags with food and treats allows you to use those as balancing weights should you find you bleed too much water from one side. I measured my dog and bought a medium. It was WAY too big and so I bought a small - fits perfectly. My dog is a 50 pound border collie mix (a McNab) and this is small? I would hate to have a smaller dog as I wouldn't be able to find a pack for it. In this bag, we have put (for 2 night trip): -two quarts of water -2 days of food -2 days of treats -collapsable bowl -doggy bags -plastic trowel (so we don't have to use bags in backcountry) -Small containers for our bug stuff, and SPF Bag weighed 12 pounds in total and the dog had a great time! No rubbing, no issues. You're not supposed to mention pricing in these reviews, but this is obviously Ruff Wear's most expensive pack so that should be addressed in the review as the question will be "is it worth it?". The answer is YES. Buy this pack.