We’ve had Sami, our westie puppy, for 2 months now, and we love taking him with us everywhere we go. But since he’s a pup (5 months now), he can’t go on very long walks, as he gets tired and it also puts lots of pressure on his legs.
So I was looking for a dog carrier that I could use to carry him, when he gets tired. And after much research I came across this dog backpack carrier for walking, hiking and biking. We bought ours from Amazon UK, an updated version which I don’t think it’s available on the US site. It’s by far the best I found on Amazon and the reviews are amazing. I ordered it, it came in a few days, and it fit Sami very well.
We did a test run yesterday, since we were coming from puppy training classes and we had Sami with us and needed to head into a home store to buy some furniture. And in Portugal you’re not really allowed to take dogs into stores, so we put him in the dog carrier (which I keep in the car, for such occasions) and the staff let us in, no problem. As long as we don’t let him on the floor, they said it’s fine. We only walked around like this for about half an hour, but he was pretty comfortable in it, especially because he was already tired. I think he would have fallen asleep, had we walked around some more.
Needless to say, everyone we met around the store and outside was instantly in love! Our westie pup is already cute on any given day, let alone when he’s being carried like this 🙂
Who is this dog carrier for?
From what I found, this is suitable for:
- Puppies like Sami, who get tired fast and can’t keep up with 2+ hours long walks
- Older doggies who also get tired fast
- Dogs with health problems, who have undergone an operation and can’t walk
- Running into the bank or a store, where you’re not allowed with dogs and you don’t want to leave them outside, on their own (ask before going in, some don’t allow them anyway)
- Entering any place where you aren’t allowed to put your dog on the floor (ask before going in, some don’t allow them anyway)
- Riding a bike or motorcycle (you can carry him in the front), though I wouldn’t advice it, frankly, especially on a motorcycle.
- Hiking or visiting places when traveling
If you decided this backpack is the right one for your westie, you can find it on Amazon US or Amazon UK (where we bought it from).
Size is important – how to choose yours
I chose the Large model, after reading the reviews and looking at pics with other dogs in it. I think Small is for really small dogs, Medium would probably fit a dog under 3 kg, Large is great for 3.5 kg – 6 kg dogs and XLarge would be for adult Westies, Cockers, Bulldogs and such.
I love that it’s easy to put on, you just need to put the puppy’s four legs into their holes and the tail (yep, it has a special place where the tail goes!), zip it up and then you have 2 velcro strips around the neck, so you can adjust how tight or loose you want it. However, no matter how tightly you adjust the velcro, I find that it still doesn’t support the head very well, and the head sort of falls to the sides. So if he fell asleep, his head would kind of wobble 🙂 That’s the only thing that I dislike about this carrier.
However, it feels very secure and safe for the dog, everything is tight and in place. It even has a safety belt that attaches to the dog’s collar or harness, so he’s really secure and there’s no change of him making the wrong move and falling out when you’re taking him out of the carrier, for instance. And I like the mesh in the front, it’s breathable and it won’t allow the dog to get hot. It also has two pads attached to the straps, so it’s comfortable for the human wearing it too. You can wear it on your back or front, whichever you choose. Plus it looks so cute!
Overall I recommend this dog carrier if you’re looking for an easy solution to carry your dog, for any reason. I found that it works not only for puppies who get tired fast, but also for dogs with health problems, that have gone through an operation or such, and can’t walk well. It’s really practical to keep it in the car for whenever you might need it.
If you decided this backpack is the right one for your westie, you can find it on Amazon US or Amazon UK (where we bought it from).
