Dog Utility Vests, anyone know a good brand?

Rabbits Online Forum

Help Support Rabbits Online Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

whitelop

Morgan
Joined
Jun 21, 2012
Messages
3,930
Reaction score
510
Location
York, South Carolina, USA
Does anyone use a utility vest for their dogs, like when you're running or walking with them? To hold your phone, keys, water bottle, etc.?

I'm just getting into running and I want my dog to go with me, but I would like to have him wear something for all my stuff, sounds selfish I know! But he has a water bladder that I carry with me for him and I have a water bottle, phone, keys. Just too much stuff for me to carry and run.
And we'll be doing some hiking and stuff so I want to have some pockets to carry food/snacks, small first aid kit, book of poisonous berries, you know normal things!

Does anyone know a good brand that isn't outrageously expensive? I was looking at the PooPro and its not too bad, but it doesn't really have the pocket room I was looking for. Its geared more towards poop bags(gross), with a dispenser and everything!
I looked at hunting vests, but they're $100+ for one, which is a bit too much to spend on a dog vest! LOL
My dog is a 60 lb Dingo.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!
 
Ive always been pleased with the Outward Hound ones. They have 2 styles of backpacks ive seen. One has smaller pockets the other has larger ones. Most pet store only carry 1 style but could potentially order the other.
Or The EzyDog saddle bags, these fit onto their convert harness. Never tried the bags but I have some of their other products and have been really happy with them.
 
Now I'm not crazy about Petsmart or Petco since IMO they don't do right by the animals and only shop there when I absolutely have to but I believe my local Petsmart had some vests.
 
Watermelons, do you personally have the Outward Hound one? I like that one, thanks for sharing the name. Its hard to find good ones when Google doesn't work with you! haha. Have you tried their products or that saddle bag?
And the Outward Hound ones are a pretty reasonable price at about $25 on sale for the vest, plus like $8 for the shipping. Thats not bad.

I looked at Petsmart on Sunday. They have one style of vest thats pretty cheap looking. Its like their brand, TopPaw and I don't know how it would stand up in the long run and it was like $45 for the large size. Its a little more than I was looking to spend, especially if I didn't like it!

Another question that I've been thinking about, would the vest/saddle bags make my dog too hot? I know they're supposed to be made of "breathable" fabric, but is it really breathable?
 
I think it really depends on the dog and the dogs conditioning. AND what you load into the pack.

From my personal experience, from me not the dog, when I went on a 5 hour hike was totally out of shape, and my legs were ready to give out, I preferred to carry the back pack. It seems weird, but we kept swapping it between me and my friend, and it was easier to hike when I had the backpack on. Odd right?

I have used an outward hound one from my friend a few times, but my dog is a really awkward shape in that for her weight I always have to get a larger size to fit her chest and back (shes SUPER skinney) but then the straps are way to big. Its like their all designed for Obese dogs. Fit fine on my bordercollies however. Plus I found out how much she likes to bush whack... I can be on the trail and she prefers to zig zag 20ft into the bushes and back to me so she can burst though a tree or shrub... and wasn't going to let her wreck a back pack that didn't belong to me.

I just checked the outward hound website, and the backpacks they show are much different then the ones ive seen. They look to be a much nicer design.
 
I try not to carry too much stuff with me when I go for a walk anyway, just my phone(since I'm in public and I would prefer not to be kidnapped), keys, water bottle for me and my dog has this bladder thing with a caribener on it to clip onto whatever, and poop bags. So usually not that much stuff, so the water and possible granola bars would be the heaviest thing in the pack.

My dog is a 7 year old Dingo, he's about 60 lbs, but very lean. He used to be in pretty good shape, but now he's a bit lazy. Its pretty hot and I think thats whats happening, I think once it cools down he'll be better and once we get into a regular schedule he'll get back into the groove. He doesn't like to stray very far. Since I'm in public a lot, I have to use a leash. But when we're on private roads, I don't use the leash but he stays within 10 feet. So he doesn't bushwack too much!

I also think that the Outward Hound packs look really nice. I would go with the green!:) I kind of wish it had reflector stripes on it though. Maybe I could get some or something.
 
Watermelons, thank you so much for introducing me to Outward Hounds! They have really awesome things on there at pretty good prices.
I also like their bungy leashes, they would be good for trail running.
 
if that's all youre carrying I don't see it as being an issue.

If your dog is like mine, the only issues I see you coming across are the same things as me. To get a pack (or anything) that fits the back and chest properly, the belly strap is always a mile too long.
That's one reason I love my EzyDog life jacket. It fits her properly in the back and I can snug all the straps up with it and actually carry all 50lbs of her with the handle. She typically fits products designed for dogs 70lbs or so.

See if you can maybe find a local store with the new outward hound packs to at least try them on? They look neat and sturdier then the old ones.
Petsmart up here still has the old ones... odd... but their the smaller style, which may be all you need. And honestly for that price range...

Actually... check the Top Paw brand... the petsmart home brand, most of their products if you read the tag, offer a lifetime guarantee. So if the tag says something like that, just hold onto your receipt and if it breaks in 3 years, return it ;)

I wouldn't personally trust my dog to hold my keys, shes a nut job when she bush whacks. But hey I let her, because honestly when you see that dog fly through a giant leafy bush (not under or beside but right through the middle) 5ft in the air with bat ears... you cant resist!
 
My husband said the same thing with the keys! haha. He was like, "he'll see a squirrel and then you're screwed!" I was like, "hes not like that anymore!" But chances are, I'll just keep the keys, so as not to take the chance! haha. But my dog is usually pretty calm and he listens really well.

I will look into TopPaw stuff if they do have a warranty like that. I can take my dog to the Petsmart and actually try them on him. I'll look the Outward Hound website to see if they sell them at a local store.

Thanks!
 
Ruffwear and Hurrta makes the best quality doggie packs and outdoor clothes! Just ordered waterproof fleece coat and down gortex winter coat for my dog and it's better made than most of my outerwear! you can get it cheaper on amazon!!!
 
I just wanted to update and say that I just received my dogs new utility vest, its pretty awesome! I got the Outward Hound, lime green, large sized vest.
I wanted to share the pictures of the vest on my dog. He doesn't know what to think, but he'll get used to it. We're going to go for our first walk with it tonight and our first trail with it this weekend!
Its really light weight too, which I like.

This is Woody, in his new vest!
sl4i38.jpg


The pocketed part is removable so you can wash the actual vest. This is the actual vest.
9jps1y.jpg


The inside of the pocket.
35a8xgl.jpg


Stretchy bands to hold your water bottles in place. There is one in each side. They're in the bottom of the pocket, I guess to help distribute the weight better.
2lvgw1v.jpg


There is a mesh pocket in each big pocket, for your smaller stuff I guess. They're zippered.
2icaddz.jpg


Just in case anyone wanted to get a vest from here. I'll also let you guys know how to holds up with the walks and trails.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top