Bug Out Dog?

[Sandman]

My dogs are my kids...If TSHTF, they are coming with. So while preparing my BOB, I've been wondering how much dog food to take and how to not overload my bag...solution...

Now my dog can carry his own food and water and maybe some stuff for me as well!

Note: This is not my dog just a picture showing the backpack.

[Il Duce]

my dog would prob just go kill his own food LOL

[Ebow1]

I would imagine most dogs would do everything they could to get that pack off their back to get to the food inside it.

[Metalhead]

Depends on if the dog is trained to carry it. Trained properly a dog could be the best thing in the world for a shtf situation I would think.

[Ebow1]

Oh yeah, a well trained dog no problem, but I deliver pizza for a living (hopefully not for much longer). I've seen the way 90% of dogs behave when they smell food. It doesn't matter the size they just about all jump on me (to be fair, I start pettin' 'em and playin' with 'em as soon as the owner isn't lookin'). I did recently deliver to a house somewhere in the Belle Meade that had a black german sheperd that come around the corner pissed as soon as I pulled in the driveway. Apparently they were surprised it didn't bite me yet had made no attempt to restrain the dog, or put it inside somewhere devoid of the potential to attack the pizza man.

[Oh Shoot]

... I've seen the way 90% of dogs behave when they smell food. It doesn't matter the size they just about all jump on me (to be fair, I start pettin' 'em and playin' with 'em as soon as the owner isn't lookin')....

I went through at least $25 of dog treats a month in my previous FedEx Ground incarnation. The good stuff, Pupperoni and Beggin Strips and the like. Carried it in one of the special side pockets in the official FedEx super duper double naught seven pants.

Regular stops, I had dogs waiting. I swear they'd bring their buddies, too...start off with one dog, and within a month there'd be 3 or 4. Had one camp I got to at least once a week, this big black lab and her little toy collie type buddy would run the truck all the way to the office and jump right in after I stopped.

Only got nipped one time, by a sweet looking little cocker of all things, AFTER I had fed her, too. I only had to zap a couple of true nasties in three years , as I also carried some pretty powerful anti-dog in the OTHER super duper side pocket.

- OS

[broylz]

i regularly take my GSDs out in the woods on hikes with me. they both regularly carry a pack like the OP showed. you cant get a whole lot of anything in those packs but my dogs dont mind them. i think of my dogs as early warning systems more than anything. they have proven themselves very protective of my wife, one appliance repair guy grabbed my wife and it was over shortly thereafter other than that, i dont expect too much from them in a survival situation. they will definately go with me but they will eat what i eat if necessary. they are pretty good at treeing every squirrel in the surrounding area so that may help. had one almost point on a deer while the other flanked it. was amusing to watch. would need alot more training to be useful as hunting dogs though.

[VERO1]

I have been looking for a pack like the one pictured. Any idea where it came from?

[Sandman]

Do a google search of "dog backpack" and there are plenty. I've been reading reviews and some of the cheaper ones could hurt your dog long term...

[broylz]

i got mine from petsmart i believe. quick ggogle search brings up much better options. i think i should have done alot more research before i bought, but then again i wasnt sure how it would work out the first time either. look at ruffwear.com or wolfpacks.com

[Guest BEARMAN]

Here's a pic of me and my bug-out-dog....er, moose.

I'm hitching him up and preparing him by hauling a few saw logs...just for exercise, of course...

[Links2k]

I would choose the GSD. The dogs are smart, quiet and loyal.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Several factors. Depends on the breed(s) of the dog, training, etc.

benefits: Early warning, extra weight they can carry, hunting, companionship

detriments: control, food,taking care of them, disease

If well trained, and well tempered, I see the benefits well out weighing the detriments

[MCSCOTT]

That backpack wouldn't be a bad idea. If I had a dog that's the route I might go, but not for carrying dog food. Most likely I would let him carry spare ammo. When hunting for my own food, I would also be hunting for food for the dog, because I'd just let him eat the same animals........or people........that I'm eating.

[Ebow1]

I've never had a dog but I do like them, and I like the idea of a Basinji (I think that's how you spell it). They never bark. When they want out, they go stand by the door, when they want food, they go stand by their dish.

[Guest Republican]

I have a blue heeler that I am sure I would bring with me. Barking would give away your location though if you were trying to hide out. Also, if authorities were on the lookout for a man and a dog, it would be harder to "blend in" than if you were just by yourself.

[Guest BRad704]

To that point... I think that all comes back to training. Both my dogs (GSD mix and pure American Bulldog) will put their attention to another dog, but won't bark at it. And if I tell them "leave it", their attention is right back on me and not anything else...

and I dont think my 2 dogs are going to make me stand out anymore than my wife and 4 kids will...

[peejman]

Be very careful with how much weight you put in the bag(s). Dogs don't have bone and muscle structure like horses do. Carrying much weight will hurt their back in short order.

I've never had a dog but I do like them, and I like the idea of a Basinji (I think that's how you spell it). They never bark. When they want out, they go stand by the door, when they want food, they go stand by their dish.

Our neighbors had a basinji when I was a kid. While it didn't bark, it did howl and yodel quite frequently. Don't think of it as a "quiet" dog.

[Ebow1]

When you say yodel, do you mean like the scene in Beerfest, cause I'd pay money to see a dog that could do that.

[Il Duce]

yeah a basenjis sound is actually quite annoying. my boxer is an awesome companion but also a great guard dog and will def alert me to something to that shouldnt be there and is a first line of defense. also a plus to dogs is an extra source of warmth if it is cold

[Ebow1]

I got a buddy who has 2 labs that are excellent guard dogs. They would never attack a person, but they make a massive amount of noise and get really excited the instant a doorknob turns and jump up on whoever's coming in.

[Kenstaroni]

My lab is great too. She's friendly as long as I'm around but will protect if necessary. Best dog I've ever had.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Labs are fine dawgs. I had a lab that wasn't naturally friendly. Once she got introduced to a stranger, she acted like the typical lab. But the first 5 minutes of meeting a stranger was very tense and I had to keep a good hold on her until she decided the person was OK. She would have hurt somebody sometime if I hadn't been vigilant. If anyone had broken in, she would have definitely been an attack dog, and made a lot of noise before he ever got in.

The current coon hounds are about as sweet disposition toward humans as you could ever find. They make a lot of noise, and a lot of people are afraid of dogs, so they are excellent early warning dogs. But they were bred as pack dogs for hundreds of years and the human-aggressive dogs were put down routinely, so they just don't seem human-aggressive. The human-aggressive ones were culled out. A hunter with a pack of dogs couldn't afford to have one dog showing its teeth to the master.

Dunno what the coon hounds would do with a threatening person. Maybe they would turn human-aggressive. They are aggressive violent and efficient against prey. The first few months getting acquainted, a few times the two boy dogs had knock-down drag-out fights scary violent.

They have a hair-trigger temper against other dogs. They would get along fine 99.9 percent of the time and play with each other like puppies, but one growl and they were instantly in a death-match. Its amazing seeing a laid-back loving dog turn into a crazy wild slavering beast in less than one second.

If that hair-trigger got pulled on a human, they would be a force to be reckoned with. I got accidentally bit BAD a couple of times breaking up the early fights. Non-accidental bites would do damage.

I'm no good at dog training, and it seems that coon hounds are most easily trained to do whatever they want to do. In a bugout situation, they would make good hunt dogs. And they are great bed-warmers.

You could probably train a German Shepherd or Lab a lot better. A well-trained Doberman bug-out dog would probably be useful, but they have trouble in cold weather.

[Il Duce]

yeah thats the issue with my Boxer, cause they dont handle heat or cold well lol

[Garufa]

Depending on what "bug out" really means, I would have to ask what dog tastes the best. Sorry, but you have to consider that if you're thinking in survivalist terms.