The ones I got at Petsmart (Outward Hound or whatever) are already worn out.

Ruffwear, hands down.

awesome, thanks Heather!!! skipping over to their website now

Heather as much as I LOVE ruffwear, Eddy and i are not sure RW can hold up to CO hiking..... or at least the way WE hike...

they are a great brand Hillary and have good customer service and stand behind what they sell and for you it might work but with the rocks we encounter it is wearing on us. the harness system in the palisade pack is great.

Jack has the RW pack and Sierra has the REI brand pack and that has held up over 2 seasons now they are less then RW so give it a look as well. you can see the packs in use on any of the hiking with dogs post from Eddy or i

Yeah, we don't do much hiking in the mountains. Our mountain time is associated with sled training, either on a sled when there's snow or with the team pulling an ATV when there's no snow. So they don't wear backpacks then. I mostly use the packs for our nightly walks and hikes along the coast and the rivers here. I like the one they have with the water bladders! that looks awesome, and it seems like I wouldn't have to carry their travel bowl then, no? (their travel water bowl)

awesome, thanks so much Jen, I appreciate it!

that is the pack jack has and the water bladders ROCK! and you can take off the bags and have a usable harness. you do still need the water bowl, i clip it to the outside of the pack.

ah, thanks for that tip. I have a couple swamp coolers in my cart right now, too. Do you know if they can be worn under a backpack?

the coolers can be worn under but Eddy has found the material does get pulled when that is done or if you use the Xback under the cooler, check out his review on the cooler to see detail pictures

Yeah, I was thinking about using the Xback over the cooler. thanks for letting me know eddy has a review. I'll go search it now

Ezydog has a really nice backpack, I haven't tried it out but I've heard great things about it, and it looks really well made.

I ended up ordering a couple of the RW Approach packs. I really wanted the Palisades, but Volya is going through another growth spurt so is eating me out of house and home at $60/bag; figured I better save the $100 price difference between buying 2 Approaches or 2 Palisades

I'll post about our experiences with the pack when they get here and we've put some miles on them.

did you see my review on the Palisade pack? (in the product review section) i got it from backcountry k9 on sale for like $85 or so. they have good sales every now and then on RW. for when your ready to upgrade.

Yeah, thanks to your review and the comments about their customer service, that's where I got the packs and swamp coolers The Palisades are $125 right now The Approach is $75. I'll definitely keep an eye out, though! I love that the Palisades has those bladders!

what is nice about the palisade pack is there is a slit on the bottom for the hose to come out of to do the water, and is zipped away by its self so it does not get damaged. you could put bladders into any pack but you have to take the bladder out of the pack to use it.

Not according to the laws of hydrodynamics, Jenn! As long as the spout is lower than the source, water will flow. I remember that from high school. You can even take water over an obstacle that way as long as the exit is lower than the source.

I always go for the cheaper option.

I have a RW Palisades pack for Appa and we love it. He took to it great, and seems to be totally comfortable in it. We haven't gotten too involved in crazy hikes (yet) but I think it's a solid pack. I don't know if ANY pack will survive Eddy and Jenn style hiking.