Walking – Backpack
I’ve found that Siberian Huskies require a great deal of exercise and seldomly ‘tire’ easily.
I’ve encountered some barriers to our ability to walk or play enough to tire Kodi out.
My power chair’s battery life has limited us as to how far we can journey away from home, so our walks are routinely about 45 minutes to an hour and fifteen minutes long, covering one of several routes that allow us to experience some different scenary, smells and encounters. Kodi’s endurance level is increasing, but the length of our walks cannot. Often I come home, ready to go inside, but Kodi wants to play in the yard, or I do get him inside and as soon as he’s had a cool drink he’s tearing through the house on and off of all the furniture, chasing the cats, seemingly never at a loss for energy.
We’ve also had to deal with the climate here in the North East, as our average summer temperatures have been steadily increasing over the last few years. We now experience steady upper 80’s with high humidity on a regular basis, which is very uncomfortable for Siberian Huskies, especially when exerting themselves. So we must walk in the early morning, late evening and limit the amount of time we’re playing in the yard. Even with a cold bowl of water available outside, Kodi has little interest in playing in the yard when the humidity is high.
To increase the amount of exercise Kodi benefits from during our walks, I’ve purchased a “backpack”. It is a quick release backpack that has a vest underneath that straps to your dog and the pack itself attaches to the vest with velcro. The quick release feature allows you to remove the pack and weight from the dog during breaks or rest periods while walking or hiking. It has two side pouches, as well as an elastic cord on top for carrying items on long walks or hikes.
I put my cell phone, house keys, a bottle of water and his “travel dish” in the pack, distributing the weight evenly, so he has to ‘work’ on our walks. It is convenient for me as well, using a power chair, I don’t have any place to store or carry needed items when we’re away from the house.
On hot days, when the humidity is already high early in the day or long into the evening and we need to get out for a walk, I put a freezer pack in each pouch, against his body, to help keep him cool and am mindful to reduce the length of our walks.
I’ve found that Kodi takes having a job to do seriously. He is less easily frightened on our walks, seems more confident and is even more well behaved when he’s working.
The backpack has a reflective strip on each pouch so he can easily be seen by oncoming or passing traffic. For additional safety, I’ve affixed a “Pet Blinker” to his “Halti”, for early mornings when it’s foggy, or evenings after dusk.
I’ve affixed a “Do Not Pet Me – I’m Working” patch to the outside pouch of his backpack, as well as “Service Dog” and “In Training” patches, to discourage unwanted approaches and attempts to pet while we’re walking. (As my goal is to train Kodi to be of assistance to me.)
A word of caution when using a backpack, be sure not to overload your dog with weight, to distribute it evenly on both sides of the pack and to begin with empty packs and gradually add weight as stamina and endurance increase, to maximize their benefit from exercise.
