Ruff Wear dog gear review and giveaway!

Since adopting Peanut over 3 years ago, I have taken her running to try to keep her calm in the house. As she has gotten older and calmed down on the leash, I've taken her on longer and longer runs. To date her longest distance is just under 17 miles (on the trails) and if it's cold enough outside, she'll run forever.

This year I've started racing with the dog, mostly because my running club is awesome and lets me bring her. Since last September, the dog has done 7 races ranging in distance from 5K to a trail half marathon.

Run Peanut RUN!

She's an all terrain dog!

She's pissed because she didn't get a medal

Peanut runs about 25-30 miles a week and normally, I would be stuck carrying water for her on our daily runs. I started researching dog packs and I found a great company called Ruff Wear that carries a fantastic hydration pack for dogs. I found the Single Track Hydration pack and it was exactly what I wanted for the dog. It's actually pretty similar to a human hydration pack because it has a bladder system, but no straws (it's hard to suck water without lips).

Peanut in her new pack:

I am the coolest dog on the block

Each pouch has a .5L bladder with a squirt top

When you first get the pack, it takes some time to adjust it properly to fit your dog, but after the initial fitting, it's easy to get on and off. Since Peanut wasn't used to carrying any weight, we started with short runs with the bladders just half full.

How come the baby doesn't have to carry her own water?

Are you going to let that kid drink MY water?

Over the period of about a week, I increased the weight until Peanut was carrying full bladders. We used the pack for every run and it was fantastic. An added perk was that running with the pack equaled an exhausted dog. She was also calmer when she was wearing it, probably because it took more energy to be crazy than she wanted to expend.

We have had the pack for almost a month and I can say that there is NO chafing or rubbing of fur. It's so nice to not worry about the dog's water because even on short 4 mile runs, she likes to have a drink. Her epilepsy medication makes her extra thirsty and this keeps her from sneaking puddle water when I'm messing with the kid. Peanut is even smart enough to drink straight from the bladders, which saves me the step of pouring it into a bowl.

Peanut even wore the pack to a trail race and it was really muddy, so I can also say that the pack is really easy to clean. It didn't even slow her down in the race and I feel like it makes her look like a more legitimate trail runner dog:

I don't really warm up until mile 30

Hey kid, do you have any spare Gu?

If you're an active person who has a dog, I strongly recommend you check out this company! Their Facebook page is really fun, mostly because it has tons of pictures of adorable dogs doing crazy stuff like rock climbing.

Ruff Wear has agreed to give away a Roamer Leash to one lucky reader! This leash has an elastic core that extends and retracts and can be worn around the waist (ideal for trail running!).

I'd want to win this too!

To enter the giveaway, just tell me your dream dog activity! I've always wanted to hike part of the Appalachian trail with a dog!


I will pick the giveaway winner at noon on Friday! Good luck!