19 October 2015

Kurgo Baxter Backpack Review

Kurgo Baxter Backpack Review -

Guest Post by the Sophomore Skijorer

Oxford Dogs was not paid for this review.   The Sophomore Skijorer did receive one free pack to review. 


Hey there! You may remember me from previous guest posts on the OxfordDogs' blog- “Tales from the Sophomore Skijorer”. Well we are coming up on our fourth mushing season, so I am not sure whether that title is still appropriate… but I have yet to come up with a better name!

Anyway, we added a new pup to our pack last December. Casey is a neat little dude who loves to adventure! Guess you could say he fits right in! We were super excited when the Oxford Dogs asked us to do a product review for the Kurgo Baxter Dog Backpack.

First Impressions

Everyone knows first impressions are important! Well, this is one good looking pack!I picked out the “Coastal Blue” color and totally loved it. Plus, it looks really great against Casey’s black fur. The size was easy to choose – there are only two options (regular Baxter and Big Baxter) which shows how adjustable this pack is.  Casey is 35 lbs- I was a bit worried the regular Baxter would still be too big for him but we had no issues.


The Fit

This pack is super easy to fit and comes with a good little card with directions. Thereare two belly straps that are easily adjustable. The strap closest to the dogs front legsalso connects into a little breast plate that makes up part of the neck strap as well. This made it really simple to fit the pack properly around the neck line. The saddle bags have their own separate straps to adjust their height which is  a nice feature.

The Features

A few of my favorite things about this pack- the handle on the back! It is sturdy and padded which makes hanging on to your dog for a quick photo a breeze. There is a sturdy D ring at the back of the pack to attach your leash to and while the saddle bags look small in size, they can sure hold a lot of stuff! Each bag has two zippered compartments- one big one and one small one.  Great for treats, poop bags, collapsible bowls… and much more!



The FUN!

The first time we tested this pack out, was on a nice 6 km hike. It was Casey’s first time with a backpack on and he adjusted in no time. Our dogs are trained to pull in harness, and I find this transfers over to backpacks too. I have had experience with straps on another pack loosening as time goes on under the strain of a strong pulling dog.  Not this pack! It was solid! The straps didn’t move, and everything stayed in place, despite Casey's pulling.

The zippers have nice toggles on them which make opening the compartments super easy, even with gloves on.

The best part is, adding a small amount of weight in a pack not only tires the dogs out physically, but mentally as well.

The Bottom Line

In my opinion, this is a great pack! Worth the investment if you are active with your dogs. Can’t wait to get one for our other dog Ember!